This was presented at BarCamp Canberra #2 at ANU, on Saturday 28 March 2009.
TRANSCRIPT
The Uncanny Valley: “That frakkin’ toaster is freaking me out!”
By Ruth EllisonTwitter: @RuthEllison
For BarCamp Canberra #2On 28th March 2009
I’m Ruth
User experience person
Usability person
Loves gadgets
Robot lover
Chocolate appreciator
Information architect
Work at Stamford Interactive
What this presentation is about...
Take a very brief look at different types of robots
Look at the Uncanny Valley phenomenon
Disclaimer
I’m not a roboticist
But I’m fascinated by human-robot / human-computer interactions
What is a robot?
“A robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent. In practice, it is usually an electro-mechanical system which, by its appearance or movements, conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own.”
- Wikipedia
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A side note: The word robota means literally work, labor or serf labor, and figuratively "drudgery" or "hard work" in Czech and many Slavic languages. (From Wikipedia)
This is a robot
ABB Assembly Line Robot By avramc from http://www.flickr.com/photos/28695713@N00/445073590/Available under a Creative Commons Attribution‐Noncommercial‐Share Alike 2.0 Generic license
For robotic engineers, the physical appearance of a machine is less important than the way its actions are controlled. The more the control system seems to have agency of its own, the more likely the machine is to be called a robot. - wikipedia
These are not robots
Robot Attack! By Dan Coulter from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancoulter/21042744/Available under a Creative Commons Attribution‐Noncommercial‐Share Alike 2.0 Generic license
Let’s play a game
creepy or not
Roomba
Linus stalking the Roomba By Eirik Newth from http://www.flickr.com/photos/eiriknewth/282273087/in/set‐72157594351565925/Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
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The Roomba is a robotic vacuum cleaner made by iRobot.
ASIMO By tanjun from http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanjun/82441127/Available under a Creative Commons Attribution‐Noncommercial‐Share Alike 2.0 Generic license
Copyrighted to Honda, source http://world.honda.com/news/2007/c071211Enabling‐Multiple‐ASIMO‐to‐Work/photo/pages/01.html
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Website: http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/ ASIMO stands for "Advanced Step in Innovative MObility“. It is a humanoid robot created by Honda. Honda's official statements claim that the robot's name is not a reference to science fiction writer and inventor of the Three Laws of Robotics, Isaac Asimov. From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASIMO): ASIMO can do the following: 1. Recognition of moving objects Using the visual information captured by the camera mounted in its head, ASIMO can detect the movements of multiple objects, assessing distance and direction. Common applications of this feature would include: the ability to follow the movements of people with its camera, to follow a person, or greet a person when he or she approaches. 2. Recognition of postures and gestures ASIMO can also interpret the positioning and movement of a hand, recognizing postures and gestures. Because of this ASIMO can react to and be directed by not only voice commands, but also to the natural movements of human beings. This enables it to, for example, recognize when a handshake is offered or when a person waves and respond accordingly. It can also recognize movement directions such as pointing. 3. Environment recognition ASIMO can recognize the objects and terrain of its environment and act in a way that is safe for both itself and nearby humans. For example, recognizing potential hazards such as stairs, and by stopping and starting to avoid hitting humans or other moving objects. 4. Distinguishing sounds ASIMO's ability to identify the source of sounds has been improved, and it can distinguish between voices and other sounds. It can respond to its name, face people when being spoken to, and recognize sudden, unusual sounds such as that of a falling object or a collision, and face in that direction. It is also able to respond to questions, either by a brief nod, a shake of the head or a verbal answer. 5. Facial recognition ASIMO has the ability to recognize faces, even when ASIMO or the human being is moving. It can individually recognize approximately 10 different faces. Once they are registered it can address them by name.
Domo
Domo from http://people.csail.mit.edu/edsinger/image/domo/press_img/domo_screwdriver_a.jpg
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Domo is an experimental robot by MIT designed to interact with humans, designed by Aaron Edsinger. Its name comes from the Japanese phrase for "thank you very much", domo arigato, as well as the Styx song, "Mr. Roboto". Domo can be used to assist senior citizens. It is an adaptive robot - Domo will adapt to its surroundings by testing the physical nature of things by touching them or shaking them. Its abilities include determining the volume of an item, placing items on shelves, pouring drinks for humans, shaking hands, and giving hugs. More info at: http://people.csail.mit.edu/edsinger/domo.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domo_(robot)
New type of terminator from The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Keepon
KeeponBy JanneM from http://www.flickr.com/photos/jannem/214869878/Available under a Creative Commons Attribution‐Noncommercial‐Share Alike 2.0 Generic license
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFfw0RteVwA&feature=player_embedded Keepon is a small yellow robot designed to study social development by interacting with children. Keepon was developed by Hideki Kozima while at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Kyoto, Japan. Keepon has four motors, a rubber skin, two cameras in its eyes, and a microphone in its nose. – Source Wikipedia
From wikipedia: HUBO is a walking humanoid robot, head mounted on a life-size walking bipedal frame, developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and released on January 6, 2005. Hubo is short form for "humanoid robot." Hubo has voice recognition and synthesis faculties, as well as sophisticated vision in which its two eyes move independently of one another. More info at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HUBO http://www.hansonrobotics.com/
Source: By Hiroshi Ishiguro, from http://www.primidi.com/2006/12/27.html
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Developed by Osaka University, the "Repliee" models are interactive robots with the ability to recognise and process speech and respond in kind. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repliee
Developed by Osaka University, the "Repliee" models are interactive robots with the ability to recognise and process speech and respond in kind. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repliee Repliee robot at the Expo 2005 in Aichi - In the video, a male approaches the robot. She asks: where do you come from? He says, I’m from Osaka. She asks, have you visited other areas of the expo? He says yes and gestures.
So what is this creepiness factor?
The Uncanny Valley
As robots appear more human like, they appear more familiar.
Almost human can seem almost strange and eerie – causes a response of revulsion.
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The Uncanny Valley term was introduced by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori in 1970. The Uncanny Valley is a hypothesis about robotics concerning the emotional response of humans to robots and other non-human entities. Made the observation – as robots appear more human like, they appear more familiar. Almost human can seem almost strange and eerie. “The uncanny valley is a hypothesis that when robots and other facsimiles of humans look and act almost like actual humans, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers. The "valley" in question is a dip in a proposed graph of the positivity of human reaction as a function of a robot's lifelikeness.” - Wikipedia
Uncanny Valley graphfamiliarity
+
‐
Human likeness
Industrial robot
Zombie
Humanoid robot
Michael Jackson
Uncanny valley
Repliee Q2 & similar robots
Healthy human
Cylon ‘skin‐jobs’
Cylon raider
Based on Masahiro Mori and Karl F. MacDorman graph
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Uncanny valley - the point along the realism curve where the object looks alive enough to trigger biologically-programmed responses, but not quite alive enough to pass for human—and as a result, can be unsettling or even repulsive. First suggested by Japanese robotics researcher Masahiro Mori in 1970, the Uncanny Valley concept may help to explain why games, toys and animations with cartoony, exaggerated characters often are more successful than their “realistic” counterparts. Source: http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20061213/ Image credits: Industrial robot - http://users.ecs.soton.ac.uk/km/projs/fingartprint/images/PR_KUKA_Industrial_Robot_KR6_01.jpg Cylon raider - http://www.tombsofkobol.com/images/bg/bsg03-raider24a.jpg Zombie - http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingsquid/219581402/ Michael Jackson - http://gawker.com/5125516/michael-jackson-could-have-just-six-months-to-live Repliee - http://plcscadasystems.blogspot.com/2009/01/japan-membuat-sex-robots.html Cylon six skin job - http://weblogs.redeyechicago.com/showpatrol/images/2008/04/10/nup_111711_1331_2.jpg Healthy Michael Jackson - http://aycu12.webshots.com/image/22971/2003627137125805269_rs.jpg
Why does it exist?
Quite a few theories
Looking at a subset of theories today:Shared circuits for empathyCognitive dissonance of liminal objects
Sources: 1. A Walk in the Valley of the Uncanny ‐ http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=8532. MacDorman, K. F., Green, R. D., Ho, C.‐C., & Koch, C. (in press). Too Real for Comfort? Uncanny responses to computer generated faces. Computers in Human Behavior.
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There are a number of theories regarding its cause. Theories can be grouped into: Automatic, stimulus-driven, specialised processing - Threat avoidance, Shared circuits for empathy, Evolutionary aesthetics Cognitive Processing - Cognitive dissonance of liminal objects, Sorites paradoxes involving personal and human identity, Terror management theory. Refer to MacDorman et al. Theory one: Empathy for clearly nonhuman entities - Empathy for clearly nonhuman entities is based upon the recognition of human characteristics in an irrefutably different context. The human mind recognizes the subject as an obvious nonhuman, and then is attracted to it by the presence of human qualities. Nearly-human-looking entities causes feeling of disgust and alienation - Mind sees human being – want it to look and act like a human being Source: http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=853 Theory two: Artificial human forms signify a challenge to our uniqueness.
Sources: 1. A Walk in the Valley of the Uncanny ‐ http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=8532. MacDorman, K. F., Green, R. D., Ho, C.‐C., & Koch, C. (in press). Too Real for Comfort? Uncanny responses to computer generated faces. Computers in Human Behavior.
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Theory one: Empathy for clearly nonhuman entities - Empathy for clearly nonhuman entities is based upon the recognition of human characteristics in an irrefutably different context. The human mind recognizes the subject as an obvious nonhuman, and then is attracted to it by the presence of human qualities. Nearly-human-looking entities causes feeling of disgust and alienation - Mind sees human being – want it to look and act like a human being Source: http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=853
Sources: 1. A Walk in the Valley of the Uncanny ‐ http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=8532. MacDorman, K. F., Green, R. D., Ho, C.‐C., & Koch, C. (in press). Too Real for Comfort? Uncanny responses to computer generated faces. Computers in Human Behavior.
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Nearly-human-looking entities causes feeling of disgust and alienation - Mind sees human being – want it to look and act like a human being Source: http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=853
Artificial human forms signify a challenge to our uniqueness and identity
Sources: 1. A Walk in the Valley of the Uncanny ‐ http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=8532. MacDorman, K. F., Green, R. D., Ho, C.‐C., & Koch, C. (in press). Too Real for Comfort? Uncanny responses to computer generated faces. Computers in Human Behavior.
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liminality - The condition of being on a threshold or in a 'betwixt and between space – source: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/sub/spaceodysseys/glossary.html#l Liminal area between humans and machine. They look like us so they call our personal identity into question.
Sources: 1. A Walk in the Valley of the Uncanny ‐ http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=8532. MacDorman, K. F., Green, R. D., Ho, C.‐C., & Koch, C. (in press). Too Real for Comfort? Uncanny responses to computer generated faces. Computers in Human Behavior.
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liminality - The condition of being on a threshold or in a 'betwixt and between space – source: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/sub/spaceodysseys/glossary.html#l Liminal area between humans and machine. They look like us so they call our personal identity into question.
CGI animation 2 approaches addressing the uncanny valley
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2 approaches to overcoming CGI uncanny valley: Cartoon look (left of the graph) Working backwards from humans but not necessarily portraying humans (right side of the graph)
The team at Image Metrics - which produced the animation for the Grand Theft Auto computer game - then recreated the gestures, movement by movement, in a model. The aim was to overcome the traditional difficulties of animating a human face, for instance that the skin looks too shiny, or that the movements are too symmetrical. “Ninety per cent of the work is convincing people that the eyes are real,” Mike Starkenburg, chief operating officer of Image Metrics, said. Source: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article4557935.ece
Keen to learn more?The Uncanny Valley by Masahiro Mori -
