research-article

The uncanny valley of embodied interaction design

Authors:

Francesco Cafaro,

Leilah Lyons,

Jessica Roberts,

Josh RadinskyAuthors Info & Claims

DIS '14: Proceedings of the 2014 conference on Designing interactive systems

Pages 1075 - 1078

https://doi.org/10.1145/2598510.2598593

Published: 21 June 2014 Publication History

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Abstract

The "Uncanny Valley" theory explains the counter-intuitive phenomenon where people may get suddenly uncomfortable with an artificial entity when it becomes very similar to humans. We propose the existence of an "uncanny valley" for embodied interaction, when a user's body motions in the physical space (the locus of interaction) are incompletely mapped into effects in the virtual space (the focus of interaction). It is generally assumed that this mapping should be as veridical as possible to promote seamless embodied interaction. Many design factors (e.g., synchronicity, sensitivity, shared realism) contribute to veridical locus-focus mapping. We intentionally varied the level of veridicality of these different factors, affecting how the user's movements were mapped to virtual effects. Our results indicate that there is a dip (valley) in user preferences when the design contains mixed degrees of veridicality. Thus, when one veridical dimension is limited, designers should likewise reduce the veridicality of other dimensions.

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Cited By

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Chatain JGashaj VMuttappillil BSumner RKapur M(2024)Designing for Embodied Sense-making of Mathematics: Perspectives on Directed and Spontaneous Bodily ActionsProceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3643834.3661571(3318-3335)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643834.3661571
Sun YPandita SMadden JKim BHolmes NWon A(2023)Exploring Interaction, Movement and Video Game Experience in an Educational VR ExperienceExtended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544549.3585882(1-6)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544549.3585882
Friedman ACafaro F(2023)From Thoughts to Interaction: Designing Controls for Video Playback Gestures with Embodied SchemataExtended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544549.3585769(1-7)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544549.3585769
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Index Terms

The uncanny valley of embodied interaction design
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)

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Reviews

Reviewer: Franz J Kurfess

Identified by Mori in 1970 [1,2], the "uncanny valley" effect captures the disconcerting effect that some human-like robots invoke if their features are very similar to those of humans, but not close enough to be fully convincing. With embodied interaction, the gestures and body motions of a user in the real world control an entity in the virtual space. A good match between a motion and its effects leads to increased veridical locus-focus mapping; locus indicates the user's location in the real world, whereas focus refers to the area of attention in the virtual world. While it is not unreasonable to assume that increased veridicality leads to better experiences with embodied interaction, the experiments conducted show that, under certain conditions, this is not the case, leading to an "uncanny valley of embodied interaction." To pin down these conditions, the experiments varied three important factors: sensitivity to a user's motion, temporal synchronicity, and shared physical realism. Different perceptual stimuli that convey varying degrees of veridicality for these factors can lead to a feeling of uncertainty in the user, caused by inconsistent information where one stimulus enhances realism while another reduces it. Although the experiments were limited in the number of participants and tasks, the results are plausible and consistent with my own and others' experiences in embodied interaction. One obstacle to the acceptance of virtual reality headsets, the VR sickness experienced by some users, also seems to be caused by inconsistent sensory input information. While the cause here may be more the inability of the brain to construct a coherent model of the environment due to outright conflicts, mismatches between levels of veridicality among different stimuli are also likely to increase the unsettling experience. The paper is well written, self contained, and accessible to an audience with a limited background in embodied interaction, virtual reality, and related topics. Online Computing Reviews Service

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Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

DIS '14: Proceedings of the 2014 conference on Designing interactive systems

June 2014

1102 pages

ISBN:9781450329026

DOI:10.1145/2598510

General Chairs:
Ron Wakkary
Simon Fraser University
,
Steve Harrison
Virginia Tech
,
Program Chairs:
Carman Neustaedter
Simon Fraser University
,
Shaowen Bardzell
Indiana University
,
Eric Paulos
UC Berkeley

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 21 June 2014

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Funding Sources

National Science Foundation

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DIS '14

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SIGCHI

DIS '14: Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2014

June 21 - 25, 2014

BC, Vancouver, Canada

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DIS '14 Paper Acceptance Rate 107 of 402 submissions, 27%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 1,158 of 4,684 submissions, 25%

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Cited By

View all

Chatain JGashaj VMuttappillil BSumner RKapur M(2024)Designing for Embodied Sense-making of Mathematics: Perspectives on Directed and Spontaneous Bodily ActionsProceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3643834.3661571(3318-3335)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643834.3661571
Sun YPandita SMadden JKim BHolmes NWon A(2023)Exploring Interaction, Movement and Video Game Experience in an Educational VR ExperienceExtended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544549.3585882(1-6)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544549.3585882
Friedman ACafaro F(2023)From Thoughts to Interaction: Designing Controls for Video Playback Gestures with Embodied SchemataExtended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544549.3585769(1-7)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544549.3585769
Cafaro FRoberts J(2021)Data through Movement: Designing Embodied Human-Data Interaction for Informal LearningSynthesis Lectures on Visualization10.2200/S01104ED1V01Y202105VIS0138:3(1-127)Online publication date: 8-Aug-2021
https://doi.org/10.2200/S01104ED1V01Y202105VIS013
Tang KGerling KGeurts L(2021)Virtual Feed: A Simulated Breastfeeding Experience in Virtual RealityExtended Abstracts of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3411763.3451575(1-4)Online publication date: 8-May-2021
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Martínez-Ruiz FRauh SMeixner G(2019)Understanding Peripheral Audiences: From Subtle to Full Body GesturesHuman Interaction and Emerging Technologies10.1007/978-3-030-25629-6_76(489-495)Online publication date: 25-Jul-2019
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25629-6_76
Mokhtar T(2019)Designing Social Robots at Scales Beyond the HumanoidSocial Robots: Technological, Societal and Ethical Aspects of Human-Robot Interaction10.1007/978-3-030-17107-0_2(13-35)Online publication date: 2-Jul-2019
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17107-0_2
Cafaro FLyons LAntle AMandryk RHancock MPerry MCox A(2018)Framed GuessabilityProceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3173574.3174167(1-12)Online publication date: 21-Apr-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3173574.3174167
Schwind VLeicht KJäger SWolf KHenze N(2018)Is there an uncanny valley of virtual animals? A quantitative and qualitative investigationInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.11.003111:C(49-61)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.11.003
Roberts JLyons L(2017)The value of learning talk: applying a novel dialogue scoring method to inform interaction design in an open-ended, embodied museum exhibitInternational Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning10.1007/s11412-017-9262-x12:4(343-376)Online publication date: 22-Nov-2017
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-017-9262-x
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Embodied metaphors in tangible interaction design

Biting, Whirling, Crawling - Children's Embodied Interaction with Walk-through Displays

Is there an uncanny valley of virtual animals? A quantitative and qualitative investigation

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