The Uncanny Valley Hypothesis (UVH, proposed in the 1970s) suggests that looking at or interacting with almost human-like artificial characters would trigger eeriness or discomfort. We studied how well subjects can assess degrees of human likeness for computer-generated characters. We conducted two studies, where subjects were asked to assess human likeness of given computer-generated models (Study 1) and to point the most typical model for a given category (Study 2). The results suggest that evaluation of the way human likeness is assessed should be an internal part of UVH research.

We present the results of the background context condition experiment for the uncanny valley hypothesis. Subjects were presented with 12 computer-generated 3D models in two background variants. For the first group 12 models were rendered on a neutral background (empty room) and for the second group the same models were rendered on a suitable background, which was relevant to a given model (science-fiction scenery, town etc.). The aim of this study was to check whether the background context would influence differences in comfort level, human-likeness rating and emotional reaction to the models. A statistically significant difference in comfort levels was observed only for one of the models, the same situation was noticed for emotional reactions. We also tested the possibility of existence of more than one uncanny valley related to different factors as suggested in