Just What Is The Uncanny Valley?

Jim here. Many of you have read about the "Uncanny Valley" before on MarketSaw and some have asked for an explanation of what it means. I would type out a response to them and whip it off to them, but was never REALLY satisfied with what I had said, because I am a visual kind of guy.

James Cameron is attempting to cross this valley with AVATAR in 3D no less. It is a massive undertaking that is certainly having its trials and tribulations over at WETA. I have heard from a number of sources that all is not well with the effort and that Cameron has been, shall we say, "upset" with the results thus far.

That doesn't mean that WETA will not deliver, far from it. I think that they will and it certainly was in the best interest of the movie to delay it until December. But let me tell you that the effort has been monumental in trying to achieve photo-realism for AVATAR.

Personally I have had enough of the stylization attempts for human emotion (Wall-E is nice, but I want to forget that the human on the screen is well, not human at all). Yeah, stylization has it's place but I have seen enough of it as representing the best we can do. I want photo realism. The time has come and man, if Cameron, Weta and Image Metrics can deliver... You will demand it too. You are going to witness history with AVATAR in more ways than one.

A reader has sent me a video clip that does an OUTSTANDING job explaining just what the Uncanny Valley is and how it applies to movies and gaming. Take a look and understand just how hard it is to achieve photo realism:

Avatar Is Gonna be KICKASS: 100% Photorealistic!

Sure Avatar was delayed by what amounts to several weeks at the beginning of the shoot. But one month does not equate 6 months - so what does James Cameron have up his sleeve by delaying the release until Xmas 2009?

Photorealism. PHOTOREALISM. 100%. As in this sucker looks like live action, but its NOT. It's a combo of live and performance capture and a whole lot of Weta CGI. My sources at Weta have passed on to me that Avatar is going to kick some serious ass - imagine any set you wanted (new planets allow you to do that!) and any character you wanted (alien creatures allow you to do that!) and one of the world's great storytellers piloting the ship. Now add in photorealistic special effects. Its gonna look very real. Now add in the world's most advanced 3D technology. This movie is going to be the new standard without question.

The only new movies on the horizon that have a chance of competing are the two Hobbits. And we all know who is doing the special effects for Jackson don't we? The photorealistic crew at Weta. And as you already know 'cause you heard it here first, The Hobbits are gonna be in 3D. With Jackson at the helm, they may very surpass Avatar for "awesomeness supremacy".

Either way you slice it, Weta can't lose. Awesome people you got there Peter.