Abstract
The Uncanny Valley phenomenon predicts that humans will be less accepting, to the point of rejection, of synthetic agents with a human-like appearance. This is due to a perception of a strangeness or difference in how those characters look and behave from the human norm. Virtual characters with a human-like appearance are increasingly being used in children’s animation and video games. While studies have been conducted in adult perception of the Uncanny Valley in human-like virtual characters, little work exists that explores children’s perception of “uncanniness” in human-like virtual characters. Sixty-seven children between 9 and 11 years of age rated humans and human-like virtual characters showing different facial expressions for perceived strangeness, friendliness, and human-likeness. The results showed that children do experience uncanniness in human-like virtual characters, perceived as stranger, less friendly, and less human-like than humans. This perception of the uncanny was exaggerated further in human-like characters with aberrant facial expression. That is, when showing a startled expression and/or happiness with a lack of movement in the upper face including the eyes, eyebrows, and forehead. The possible implications of including human-like virtual characters in animation and video games for this age group are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 286-296 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Computers in Human Behavior |
Volume | 36 |
Early online date | 4 May 2014 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 2014 |
Keywords
- Children
- Facial expression
- Video games
- Animation
- Uncanny Valley
- Human-like characters