What is the Uncanny Valley? Where does it come from?

I have spent the last year working with a start up exploring the origin of the Uncanny Valley and how to avoid it. Together we have created two Virtual Influencers named Binxie and Aliza. I believe The Uncanny Valley is not based on a centuries old instinct, and is instead rooted in aesthetic choices, and the importance of making them deliberately.

I think Uncanny Valley is a 20th / 21st century phenomenon, and occurs when engineers try to simulate life , but make choices for engineering purposes that call to attention the fact that in some ways we are engineered too. Hopefully our exploration in this area will help avoid the unease that virtual humans have the potential to possess.

Below are images of the two influencers, Binxie and Aliza. The first two images are the front and back covers of an issue of HUF Magazine, then images from an article in the same magazine, and images from their instagram feeds.

I was the photographer, retoucher, and compositor for most of these images…