I've fallen into the uncanny valley

[SantoUno]

For the most recent ENN vid, it had the image of the boy from Natal, and every time I looked at it it was sooooo unsettling. Seriously, I thought to myself, "I can see how they were trying to make the boy as realistic as possible but damn, it looks soo creepy and unsettling, it's mostly because of the eyes."

And then I realized that I was simply feeling the behavior that is illustrated in the Uncanny Valley theory.

So I ask if there are any moments in which you felt the effects that the theory illustrates when you looked at a certain character in a video game and thought it looked unsettling because it was "too real but not quite real enough to admire".

 

[Ganthrinor]

No, not really. My fourth wall is perpetually broken.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Nope, I've never felt that.
I'm tolerant of differences. Even if someone seems subtly wrong, I tend not to notice.
I just accept everyone and everything. Thus, the 'Uncanny Valley' effect does not seem to apply to me.

 

[Amnestic]

"too real but not quite real enough to admire".

Spoiler

"Not quite real enough to admire" he says...

No, not really. My fourth wall is perpetually broken.

This too.

 

[Mr. GameBrain]

The eyes! THE EYES!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCXX4WUY_Gg[/youtube]

Yeah, Natal Boy freaks me out too.

But what freaks me out the most is China Dolls.

The more real they try to make them, the more nightmare inducing they are.
(Seriously, WHO wants these!??!)

 

[squid5580]

Polar Express still creeps me out.

 

[Hiphophippo]

Dio makes everything better. It's a fact.

 

[Loop Stricken]

Digital characters tend to arouse me more than they disturb me.

I can't be alone in this.

 

[AdmiralWolverineLightningbolt]

heavy rain?
(id love to say /thread, but im sure there are more examples)

 

[Fensfield]

The only time I ever fell into the uncanny valley was, weirdly, an audio thing. Marvin the Magician was it? Some horrible, horrible old PSX RPG with all the characters voice acted, every last NPC.. by the same person.

I felt sick o.o

But nah, 'can't remember ever being thrown by visuals.

EDIT: Oh, wait, no. WoW. I do not know why, and I can only assume it's the uncanny valley at work, but I can't play that game. I haven't played enough to know if I dislike the gameplay, but something in the graphics quite literally makes me feel queasy and have to quit shortly after logging in.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

I had that experience when watching Polar Express. I can't watch the damn thing because it freaks me out.

 

[Tolerant Fanboy]

No, not really. My fourth wall is perpetually broken.

So you can see the people watching us? Eerie...

 

[Ganthrinor]

Eerie, yes. But I'd rather know that little people on my screen know I'm watching them and controlling thier fate like some sort of sadistic god-child than be spooked by the "So real it's got to be fake" feeling.

 

[scnj]

Never have taken that trip. I don't really let graphics bother me.

 

[MagnetoHydroDynamics]

Motion capture films tend to be creepy.

Even Avatar. Don't tell me you didn't have a subtle feeling of wrongness in one of the close-ups.