BACKGROUND
Sophisticated augmented reality environments, video games, AI and motion pictures rely on suspending disbelief for the viewer so that they are fully immersed in another world.

This suspension of disbelief and a positive user experience relies on building effective relationships with human-like characters and avatars that a user encounters.

Importantly, we rely on accurate and authentic facial expression and behaviours in digital human-like characters to establish meaningful relationships with them. If a character’s facial expression or behaviour is regarded as odd, unresponsive, or inappropriate and deviates from the human norm then the character risks being rejected by the viewer and falling into the Uncanny Valley.

As a certified specialist on how facial expression and speech can be used to control perceived uncanniness in human-like virtual characters Dr Angela Tinwell (a.k.a. in the industry as Dr Uncanny Valley) has helped artists, designers and developers avoid the Uncanny Valley in their human-like characters so that projects and artefacts are well received by the public.

Tinwell has developed a conceptual framework and heuristic guidelines based on substantive empirical evidence of the uncanny and facial expression in human-like virtual characters. Her research projects have also found that a perceived lack of empathy in a virtual character in the context of human behaviour and social cognition, would evoke the uncanny response in a viewer and repulsion toward that character, despite their intended positive or negative role on screen. These principles also extend to AI and robotics.

It is of great importance that we keep striving to overcome the Uncanny Valley, especially with the increasing use of realistic human-like characters to help solve real world problems. Human-like characters can be used as meaningful companions for the elderly, comrades for those in hostile or remote environments such as soldiers in warfare or astronauts in multi-planetary space travel. Furthermore, realistic human-like characters continue to feature as virtual teachers, mentors, and instructors in AI driven learning and training environments.

Given the increasing demand for realistic human-like characters, it is crucial that the design and facial expression for these characters is appropriate and accurate to benefit AI and human-character interaction. Effective and authentic communication is key, without which, the human-like characters may be regarded as foes rather than allies.

Tinwell’s book, The Uncanny Valley in Games and Animation (2014)and publications on the Uncanny Valley have achieved a four-star rating as ‘World Leading Research’ in the UK Research Excellence Framework Exercise 2021.

Statement from Glen Dickens at Dolby Sound:

… Angela, Since I am heavily consuming your work at the moment and benefiting from all of your research and prose, I thought I would write to you direct. I lead Research at Dolby for Dolby Voice. Essentially we are looking at restyling the whole remote voice communications experience, with a focus on the user experience, plausibility and perceptual continuity, rather than on inappropriate objective metrics or subjective tests. Your work sits very high and current in my literature review… Glen Dickens