Author: Bohdan Rozlach

Have you ever looked at a human-looking doll or robot and felt uneasy? This may be caused by something that is called “The Uncanny Valley” phenomenon. This term is used to describe the relationship between the human-like appearance of an object and the emotional reaction it creates. Phenomenon makes people feel a sense of unease and repulsive sensations in response to humanoid figures that are highly realistic. In the modern world its quite easy to stumble across a human-like object, since their creators aim to make them as realistic as possible. But upon examination of them, people tend to notice those objects are not human enough, something is off about them. Scientists even made a graph that shows this so-called “valley”, and if the object lies in that “valley”, object’s observer may feel a sense of creepiness, disgust or unease. Everyone must’ve felt this feeling while watching some CGI scene or playing a video game or maybe even seeing it in reality – like a mannequin. They might be realistic, but if its not realistic enough u will get this uneasy feeling.
The phenomenon was first described by the Japanese robotics engineer Masahiro Mori in an article published in 1970. Mori identified the phenomenon as “bukimi no tani gensho”, meaning “valley of eeriness.” In 1978, author Jasia Reichardt translated the term to “uncanny valley” in the book “Robots: Fact, Fiction, and Prediction.” Mori noticed that people found his robots pretty cool and realistic, but this only worked to the certain point.
There has been a number of proposed explanations for why people experience the phenomenon, but no clear explanation has been found. Some theories suggest that the phenomenon is biological, while others suggest that there are cultural explanations as well.
Mori suggests that it might be a survival response humans developed long time ago. It might mean that at some point humans needed this type of response to avoid human-like objects like, maybe, baits. As we know some animals have developed special patterns on their skin to resemble something for protection or baiting other species. So, maybe, long-long time ago there was a creature that hunted humans with its human-like looks, thats why we developed this reaction in order to avoid this type of objects.

Once upon a time, three happy birds lived in a warm, peaceful forest. The birds didn’t have names, the creatures of the forest would call them Big Bird, Long Bird, and Small Bird. Everyone lived happily in the forest. The birds wanted the forest to be safe more than anyone else since it was almost a paradise.
One day, a stranger showed up in the forest. He was a traveler and a prophet, but three birds found him suspicious, so they didn’t let him in the forest.
The stranger felt angry and decided to tell the birds something. “Soon terrible things will happen in the forest. There will be no peace, only conflicts and evil deeds. All of it will eventually stop when a beast will come and devourer everything there. The forest will never be the same as it was before.”
The birds became worried about the travelers words. What if he didn’t lie and the beast will come and destroy the forest. They loved the forest more than anyone, so they decided to protect it at all costs.
Long Bird was a fair judge of the forest with scales that it used to weigh sins of creatures. It also had eyes that were able to see far and see what noone else could. Eventually, Long Bird decided to give the eyes to the Big Bird, since it was weak.
Long Bird, with its scales, weighed the sins of creatures that entered the forest to keep it safe from evil creatures. Long Bird’s scales could measure every sin, and were always fair.
Then somebody said, “But what if the scale doesn’t tip in either direction someday?”
Worried, Long Bird made a scale that always tipped to one side. That way every judgement would have a clear verdict.
Big Bird, now with its many eyes, decided to watch over the forest for intruders.
Then somebody said, “But what if the beast shows up in the middle of the night, when the sky is dark and everyone is asleep?”
Worried, Big Bird made the everlasting lamp out of its feathers. Now the creatures of the forest were under Big Bird’s constant watch, day and night.
Small Bird decided to punish the creatures’ bad deeds with its beak.
Then somebody said, “But your beak is so small, no one would think its dangerous.”
Worried, Small Bird tore its mouth wide so it could swallow any creature in one bite.
No one could visit the forest anymore, and bad rumors began to spread.
“I heard that terrible things will happen to any creature that enters the forest.”
“The Big Bird is always watching the creatures of the forest, there’s no freedom.”
“The Long Bird’s scale isn’t fair at all.”
“The Small Bird’s everything-devouring beak is so scary.”
Three birds got upset.
They worked so hard to protect the forest, but less visitors came to the forest, more and more creatures were complaining, fights broke out daily, but the birds continued to work even harder to make the forest peaceful again.
Birds thought that the forest was too big for them to protect, and they decided to combine their power to become stronger.
The day when Big Bird’s eyes that could see hundreds of kilometers away, Long Bird who could judge any sin, and Small Bird’s mouth that could devour everything became one, darkness fell upon the forest. Creatures screamed in fear when saw the bird, and the forest soon fell into chaos.
Then, in the middle of all the chaotic cries, someone shouted: “It’s the monster! Big, terrible monster that lives in the dark, black forest!”
Monster? The three birds, now as one, looked around but there was no one to be seen. The bird began to prowl the forest, looking for the monster.
But there was nothing. There were no creatures, no sun and moon, and no beast. All that was left was just a bird and the black forest. Only cold, dark night continued from then.