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Monkeys prefer to interact with a more realistic avatar

When shown avatars of monkey faces, rhesus macaques preferred those made using real video of other monkeys. Photo by Siebert et al./eNeuro
When shown avatars of monkey faces, rhesus macaques preferred those made using real video of other monkeys. Photo by Siebert et al./eNeuro

June 9 (UPI) -- Just like humans, monkeys experience the uncanny valley effect, but researchers were able to overcome the effect using a more realistic avatar.

The uncanny valley effect describes the feelings of uneasiness inspired by the appearance of an avatar. Humans tend to be made uncomfortable by avatars that appear especially lifelike.

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"Anyone using synthetic stimuli like avatars should be aware of the uncanny valley effect," Ramona Siebert, researcher at the University of Tübingen in Germany, told UPI in an email. "This describes the phenomenon that human's affinity for human-like avatars turns into discomfort once the avatar becomes too realistic. The phenomenon has also been described for monkeys before, highlighting its evolutionary origin."

However, the latest research -- published this week in the journal eNeuro -- suggests monkeys experience the uncanny valley effect differently than humans. Creating an avatar that make monkeys most comfortable is important for scientists conducting neuroscience and psychology research.

"Our goal was to create a naturalistic avatar in order to systematically investigate how monkeys perceive their conspecifics' facial information," Siebert said. "Understanding how the system works on a neuronal level might offer insights into the nature of the communication deficit in human autism spectrum disorder, which includes problems understanding the gaze and the facial expression of others."

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For the study, researchers exposed Rhesus monkeys to five different types of monkey faces: video footage from real monkeys, a natural looking avatar with fur and facial details, a furless avatar, a greyscale avatar and a wireframe face.

The monkeys showed the strongest positive approaching behavior, such as lip-smacking, toward the most realistic avatar. When facing the most realistic avatar, the monkeys behaved similar to the ways they behave in front of real monkeys.

Based on research into the uncanny valley effect as experienced by humans, scientists expected Rhesus monkeys to show aversion to the most realistic avatars.

"Instead, less realistic avatars, which possessed eerie features like lack of fur or natural coloring, were avoided," Siebert said. "This indicates that not the high realism, but other eerie features elicit the avoidance and demonstrates that the uncanny valley effect is not an insurmountable obstacle."

Siebert and her colleagues hope their new avatar will help neuroscientists design and execute more standardized and reproducible social cognition studies.

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