Persistence of the uncanny valley: the influence of repeated interactions and a robot's attitude on its perception

Abstract

The uncanny valley theory proposed by Mori has been heavily investigated in the recent years by researchers from various fields. However, the videos and images used in these studies did not permit any human interaction with the uncanny objects. Therefore, in the field of human-robot interaction it is still unclear what, if any, impact an uncanny-looking robot will have in the context of an interaction. In this paper we describe an exploratory empirical study using a live interaction paradigm that involved repeated interactions with robots that differed in embodiment and their attitude toward a human. We found that both investigated components of the uncanniness (likeability and eeriness) can be affected by an interaction with a robot. Likeability of a robot was mainly affected by its attitude and this effect was especially prominent for a machine-like robot. On the other hand, merely repeating interactions was sufficient to reduce eeriness irrespective of a robot's embodiment. As a result we urge other researchers to investigate Mori's theory in studies that involve actual human-robot interaction in order to fully understand the changing nature of this phenomenon.

Uncanny…But Convincing? Inconsistency Between a Virtual Agent’s Facial Proportions and Vocal Realism Reduces Its Credibility and Attractiveness, but Not Its Persuasive Success

“…Although Blascovich's hypothesis has been supported by several empirical findings (e.g., Baylor, 2009;Guadagno et al, 2007;Roubroeks, Ham, & Midden, 2011), other research has raised doubts on its unlimited validity. For instance, a recent robotics experiment showed that robots with high degrees of human likeness were rated as less trustworthy than more mechanical-looking counterparts (Złotowski et al, 2015). Offering a possible interpretation, the authors locate their result within the famous "uncanny valley" framework (Mori, 1970), which suggests that increasing a technology's human likeness will only promote its likability up to a certain threshold before an 'eerie' ambiguity between machine and human may evoke strong unease among observers.…”

Now you feel it, now you don’t

“…The differential patterns of associations further emphasize the need to use both measures in parallel in order to capture discomfort towards robots in a more comprehensive manner (MacDorman & Entezari, 2015;Zlotowski, Sumioka et al, 2015). Most importantly, by delineating different aspects of discomfort scientists may ultimately be able to predict which aspect(s) compromise(s) people's willingness to engage with or accept robots (Ho & MacDorman, 2010;Patel & MacDorman, 2015).…”

Reducing the Noise of Reality

“…Research on this uncanny valley effect lacks consistency regarding the prevalence and explanation of the effect (Cheetham, 2017;Lay, Brace, Pike, & Pollick, 2016;Wang & Rochat, 2017). However, it may be that the effect is related to a discrepancy between expectations raised by an anthropomorphic "entity" and its observed behavior (Złotowski et al, 2015). Therefore, in the current state of most available technologies, the uncanny valley effect can pose a severe threat to the ecological validity of a task, as participants who feel disturbed by the perceived un-realism of the experimental setup are less likely to behave naturally.…”