Uncanny Valley

The uncanny valley is a concept describing the discomfort people feel when robots or digital characters look almost human but not quite realistic. As a design becomes more human-like, emotional acceptance increases until small imperfections cause a sudden sense of unease. This effect is especially noticeable in humanoid robots, animated characters, and AI-generated faces. The uncanny valley highlights the challenge of balancing realism and abstraction in human-like design. Designers and engineers consider this concept carefully when creating robots and virtual agents meant to interact with people.