The hashtag #uncannyvalley has over 500 million views on TikTok - but what is it?
The term 'uncanny valley' refers to "a common unsettling feelings people experience when androids (humanoid robots) and audio/visual simulations closely resemble humans in many respects but are not quite convincingly realistic" according to TechTarget.
Now on TikTok, creators are trying to give viewers the same unsettling feeling through makeup and filters in order to try and make themselves look like androids.
Creator Zara (@alkiiwii) posted herself wearing 'uncanny valley makeup', where her features have been eventuated to look, well, uncanny. It is one of the most liked videos under the hashtags with 1.8 million likes since posting the video five days ago. In the video she lip-syncs an audio from the video game Detroit Become Human which follows three androids in the year 2038.
The audio, from the android Chloe, says: "I only exist thanks to the intelligence of the humans who designed me. You know, they have something I could never have [...] a soul." With Zara's lip-syncing slightly stilted to make her mannerisms even more robotic.
@alkiiwiiUNCANNY VALLEY #uncannyvalley #uncannyvalleymakeup #uncannyvalleyeffect
Comments under Zara's video include "the first uncanny valley that's worked for me."
"The difference between the mouth movements and voice make it even better," commented another creeped out viewer.
A third added: "This one actually scared me."
Another popular audio used in the trend comes from a TIME article from 2013, where a robot telemarketer denied it was a robot.
"No, I am a real person," the robot says. "Maybe we have a bad connection, I'm sorry about that."
"Will you tell me you're not a robot? Just say I'm not a robot, please." The human on the phone asks.
"I am a real person." The Robot claims.
@beautybyzoeg#uncannyvalley #uncannyvalleyeffect #makeup #fyp
The eiree feeling induced by the uncanny valley makeup and accompanying audios has viewers hooked though.
"This is so good," commented one user under a video.
"This is so terrifying I love it," wrote another.
For those of us who lack the makeup skills required for this trend. User @art_by__alyssa made a filter to give us all that uncomfortable feeling.
@art_by__alyssamake a tiktok filter with me?✍? #art #artist #procreate #facepaint #makeup #uncannyvalley #uncannyvalleyeffect #uncannyvalleymakeup #filter #filters #effects #effect #effecthouse #effecthousecreator #fyp #foryou #foryoupage
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