DSP Robotics Support

Spogg wrote:anything other than faces

Other than the dog robot that "lip-syncs" a bit, the robots don't really have faces as such, and certainly not facial expressions - something that most people would probably focus on, at least for a while, when they watch people dancing. I wonder whether that makes a difference for some people. There's no way to tell whether the robots are "enjoying" themselves, for example. In fact, now that I think of it, the person without a face is quite a common horror-movie trope, too.

Spogg wrote:So I guess there’s a spectrum of responses

As someone who's on a "spectrum" myself, I'd say undoubtedly. Since diagnosis, I've become far more aware of the way that some people are more comfortable with me if I do my best "normal person" impression, while others seem more comfortable if I display my autistic traits more openly. It's impossible for the camouflaging to be 100%, and I think that with some people, it puts me in the "uncanny valley" where they can tell that something is unusual about me, but are unable to put their finger on quite what it is (in a way, their instinct is right; I am trying to deceive them in a sense.) I'm not the only autistic person to be fascinated with the uncanny valley concept for this reason.

trogluddite wrote:(in a way, their instinct is right; I am trying to deceive them in a sense.)

I have a very strong instinct in this regard. When I meet somebody in person, it takes me seconds to "know", if I'm talking with a good character or not. I don't know why this works, but it works reliably in over 40 years. I also learned to talk about it especially to my friends, when it is about persons they met. Not to brag, but to let them know that everything is right, or that they need to be careful. From pedophile to thief, from drug addict to faking love - I caught them all. Within seconds. THAT's creepy

Regarding uncanny valley, not even after these arguments can I find anything creepy from the robots dancing. I do feel that creepiness strongly, for example, when they pasted a 3D generated young princess Leaia on the head of an actress. Or revived Peter Cushing.

I think it is, because I feel the real thing. Those robots are real, they are existing. That doesn't frighten me. But bringing back an actor 24 years after his death, not even knowing if he would be ok with this and then giving him this zombie-like face animation - that's something so creepy, I can't express it enough.