Uncanny valley

The uncanny valley (Japanese: 不気味の谷, Hepburn: bukimi no tani) effect is a hypothesized psychological and aesthetic relation between an object's degree of resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to the object. The uncanny valley hypothesis predicts that an entity appearing almost human will risk eliciting eerie feelings in viewers. Examples of the phenomenon exist among robots, animatronics, and lifelike dolls as well as visuals produced by 3D computer animation and artificial intelligence. The increasing prevalence of digital technologies (e.g., virtual reality, augmented reality, and photorealistic computer animation) and their increasing verisimilitude have prompted debate about the "valley."