"The Uncanny Valley" (Mori's original paper)

"The Uncanny Valley" is a concept introduced by Masahiro Mori, describing a phenomenon where humanoid objects (like robots or animations) that appear almost, but not perfectly, human evoke feelings of eeriness or discomfort. As these figures become more human-like, people's affinity for them increases, but when they reach a point of near-perfection without being entirely convincing, it can cause unease. Only once they become indistinguishable from real humans does comfort usually return. Mori’s idea highlights why achieving realistic human likeness in robotics or CGI can be challenging, as slight imperfections heighten discomfort.