Does social desirability bias favor humans? {E}xplicit-implicit evaluations of synthesized speech support a new {HCI} model of impression management
A mismatch in the human realism of face and voice produces an uncanny valley
Findings illuminate ethical impact of simulated human characters
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - New research conducted at the IU School of Informatics at IUPUI can help computer animators to create human characters that communicate more effectively with real people. According to Professor Karl MacDorman, “the human interface is the most natural interface for people to use for communication, because it is the interface we know best.” Hence, simulated human characters are an attractive option for delivering information, and their appeal will only increase as advanced technology causes them to become increasingly indistinguishable from real people.
Even in the virtual world, men judge women on looks
"Thanks to video games and blockbuster movies, people are increasingly engaging with avatars and robots. So Karl MacDorman of Indiana University in Indianapolis, Indiana, decided to find out how people treated avatars when faced with an ethical dilemma. Does an avatar's lack of humanity mean people fail to empathise with them? The answer seems to depend on gender."
Read the full story at New Scientist.
"The Truth About Robots and the Uncanny Valley: Analysis"
"An oft-cited theory in robotics, the uncanny valley, refers to that point along the chart of robot–human likeness where a robot looks and acts nearly—but not exactly—like a human. This subtle imperfection, the theory states, causes people's feelings toward robots to veer from fondness to revulsion."
Read the full story at Popular Mechanics.
MacDorman quoted in story on the Uncanny Valley
Karl MacDorman, director of the Android Science Center, was recently featured in an article on the evolutionary origins of the uncanny valley. Read it now at http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/uncanny_valley/.
News Releases
From the Center
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (2009-05-28) - When does being nearly human become a bad thing? For both roboticists and computer animators, creating characters with a human appearance is not a straightforward task. Karl MacDorman and his colleagues at Indiana University have published the results from a series of studies investigating why artificial characters that look too much like us can make us uneasy. The results are in the May 2009 issue of the scientific journal Computers in Human Behavior in a paper titled "Too real for comfort? Uncanny responses to computer generated faces" (DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2008.12.026).
An Introduction to Android Science
This section of the site is dedicated to the basic ideas behind android science and the new ideas we can gain from it. In this series of videos, Center director Karl F. MacDorman discusses topics like the uncanny valley and the future of human-robot interaction.
Contact
Android Science Center
Indiana University School of Informatics
Mailing address:
719 Indiana Avenue, WK 316
Indianapolis, IN 46202-6151 (locate on Google Maps)
Telephone: (317) 278-9207
Fax: (206) 350-6089
Email: center@androidscience.org
