Here’s a video clip from my lecture last October at Neumann University on the Uncanny Valley. About an hour into the discussion of why androids and animatronics might creep us out, I gave this overview of “terror management theory” to explore how it applies to theories of the uncanny (das Unheimliche) and the representations of… Continue reading Terror Management Theory and the Uncanny Valley (Video)
Tag: uncanny valley
From “The Uncanny Valley” Talk at Neumann University
Had a GREAT time in Philadelphia this past weekend, where I attended DogCon4 and delivered an address to Neumann University on “The Uncanny Valley.” MANY THANKS to Neumann University for supporting my trip, Dr. Bill Hamilton for inviting/hosting/handling, Dave Bullis for running the media, and of course, all my friends at Raw Dog Screaming Press… Continue reading From “The Uncanny Valley” Talk at Neumann University
“The Uncanny Valley” Event: Guest Lecture at Neumann University 10.23.15
I will be giving a talk about “The Uncanny Valley”, free and open to the public, at Neumann University (near Philadelphia, PA) on the early evening of Oct 23rd. This event doubles as an early bird festivity for Raw Dog Screaming Press’ exciting conference, DogCon4. [Raw Dog is the parent company for Guide Dog Books,… Continue reading “The Uncanny Valley” Event: Guest Lecture at Neumann University 10.23.15
Everything Is Uncanny
The latest print issue of Wired magazine (Sept 2015) includes a mini-feature story on “The New Cultural Literacy 2016,” which includes the above entry on the ubiquity of the uncanny valley in technological design. The phrase “Uncanny Valley” has indeed become so ubiquitous in discourse that it seems to be drummed up whenever anything is… Continue reading Everything Is Uncanny
The Return of the Uncanny and the Rise of the Uncanny Valley
Although there is some wise debate about the reliability of Google NGrams as statistical proof, it is still interesting to see the way the term “uncanny” has come into — and gone out of — fashion over the years… Here’s how google NGram tracks the appearance of the term “uncanny” in all books between 1800… Continue reading The Return of the Uncanny and the Rise of the Uncanny Valley
Data Doppelgangers feature in The Atlantic
There is you. And then there is your alter-ego as constructed by all the hidden marketing that happens behind the scenes due to your social networking. You can try to control it through things like facebook’s latest privacy adjustment techniques. But as tech critic Sara M. Watson points out in a recent article in The… Continue reading Data Doppelgangers feature in The Atlantic
Bukimi-no-Tani – “The Uncanny Valley Revisited: A Tribute to Masahiro Mori”
Last November, Ken Goldberg at UC Berkeley organized a special conference on “The Uncanny Valley Revisited: A Tribute to Masahiro Mori” — hosted by the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) in Tokyo, and there is fantastic coverage of this event — which includes streaming video of all the presentations — at… Continue reading Bukimi-no-Tani – “The Uncanny Valley Revisited: A Tribute to Masahiro Mori”
Zombie Video Games
In the video article, “Why all the Zombies in Video Games?” the popular gaming review site gamespot turns to Mori’s theory of the uncanny valley for an answer. “[Zombies] seem to encapsulate a perfect storm of repulsion. First off, they have horrible, glazed dead eyes. And eyes appear to be the crucial thing we look… Continue reading Zombie Video Games
VIDEO: Arnzen Lecture on The Popular Uncanny at Neumann University
Many thanks to my friend, Dr. William Hamilton, Neumann University (near Philadelphia, PA), and Dave Bullis of BullWitt Media for inviting, hosting and producing the video for this lecture last October. It turned out fantastic! You can watch the entire event above or full-screen it directly on youtube. The video is almost an hour-and-a-half long,… Continue reading VIDEO: Arnzen Lecture on The Popular Uncanny at Neumann University
The Uncanny Valley: Expanded and Uncut! Notes on Mori’s Groundbreaking Essay
I like to think I’m good at keeping up with research on the Uncanny, but somehow I missed an important event this June: IEEE Spectrum published the first complete English translation of Masahiro Mori’s highly influential article on “The Uncanny Valley” (originally published in what they call “an obscure Japanese journal called Energy in… Continue reading The Uncanny Valley: Expanded and Uncut! Notes on Mori’s Groundbreaking Essay