Inside the Uncanny World
Illustration © 2026 AdventureLAB

You may have heard of The Uncanny Valley and faced it more than once. The phenomenon was first coined and described by the Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori in an article published in 1970. Mori identified the phenomenon as bukimi no tani genshō, meaning 'valley of eeriness.' In 1978, author Jasia Reichardt translated the term' Uncanny Valley' in the book "Robots: Fact, Fiction, and Prediction."

The Uncanny Valley
Source: Wikipedia Commons

In his work, Mori noted that people found his robots more appealing if they looked more human. While people found his robots more appealing the more human they appeared, this effect only held up to a point. When robots appear close to but not quite human, people tend to feel uncomfortable or even disgusted. Once The Uncanny Valley has been reached, people feel uneasy, disturbed, and sometimes afraid. What may happen when we cross the threshold and find ourselves immersed in it?

Exposure and Response to the Seemingly Real

Beyond robotics, the increased use of CGI in movies, kicked off by gargantuan blockbusters like Jurassic Park in 1993, brought dinosaurs and fantastic landscapes to life on the silver screen. With dramas like Forrest Gump, the obviously fantastic gave way to CGI that did not provide a clear signal for when something was recorded in the real, physical world or added to a seemingly real, virtual dimension. Before long, we were presented with audiovisual narratives on big, small, and silver screens in movies, videos, and games that did not pretend to make the fantastic realistic but rather to challenge our perception of reality.

Forest Gump shook the hand of Lyndon B. Johnson, and Industrial Light and Magic was honoured with the Academy Award® for Visual Effects in 1994.
© 1994 Industrial Light and Magic

In 2017, more insights emerged from further study of the Uncanny phenomenon at the Motion, Brain, & Behavior Laboratory (EBBL) in the Department of Psychology at Tufts University. It showed that the Uncanny Valley not only triggered emotions but also heightened our mental alertness. The next natural step was how we react and behave when we perceive someone trying to trick us. Entering The Uncanny Valley is not just a state of mind; it is also reflected in behaviour.

Inside the Internet

We have long surpassed the Internet as something we visit on the desktop computer. About a decade ago, during several presentations in the USA as part of the launch of The Design Network, our team stated that the Internet is more than just a place to visit. We were - and are - actually living on the Internet through our devices with and without screens as connection points. A phenomenon also known as the Outernet.

Made possible by the Internet and ever-present by mobile devices, social media might be argued to be more about people being obsessed with themselves and attention than actually being social, which adds another meaning to the typical abbreviation SoMe ("so me" leaning towards "see me"). No one can argue with its powerful influence on reality and on how people perceive and live their lives. Narratives, true or false, are continuously pushed at us and often accepted without a moment's healthy scepticism.

Narratives, true or false, are continuously pushed at us and often accepted without a moment's healthy scepticism.

This presents us with a significant conundrum, as such narratives picked up without question sometimes make people question reality and breed distrust between people and peoples. Don't believe everything you see on YouTube. Don't do all the challenges presented on TikTok. Don't think the person you just met on Instagram looks like that, behaves like that - or perhaps even exists. Unsurprisingly, people get suspicious about even the well-established and obvious and tend to gather in their small groups of like-minded people to get some assurance and confidence in their beliefs rather than challenging their own established mindset.

Round or flat? Flat Earth map drawn by Orlando Ferguson in 1893. The map contains several references to biblical passages and various jabs at the "Globe Theory".
Source: Wikipedia

No longer is it a question of whether events unfolded in a fictitious universe; the big question is whether they actually unfolded in reality. Twisting reality into a narrative that strengthens your case or cause has been successfully applied by demagogues throughout human history, claiming victories and advancements that never existed.

Further Down the Slippery Rabbit Hole

Just as we have become inhabitants of an all-encompassing Internet, we no longer see the Uncanny Valley as just robots or events on a screen. We have ventured into it and have been surrounded by it for some time now. It has become our Uncanny Virtuality, where digital and physical realities collide and converge. What happens then, as the tools for generating and synthesising realities become widely available, is that seemingly everyone can create anything, making it hard to distinguish fact from fiction. After all, handing everybody the giant megaphone that is social media was, in hindsight, not necessarily something we all were ready to handle.

After all, handing everybody the giant megaphone that is social media was, in hindsight, not necessarily something we all were ready to handle.

First, let's get beyond the myth that everyone can create something with a single click. It takes more work to create something that stands out as more people access the same powerful generative tools. Just look at the state of generated creations. The lack of imagination and effort is showcased in the need for originality, often displayed in the use of AI tools such as Midjourney: /imagine how film x would look like if it were done by director x or /imagine if artist y had done painting y, anyone? Stuck in a loop, this is hardly the epitome of imagination; it is an exploration of features, which can admittedly be fun and entertaining.

Thriving in The Uncanny Virtuality

If storytellers, experience designers, moviemakers, communicators, brand managers, agencies, studios and the rest of the lengthy list of what we can give the common name creators do not want their work to become yet another brick in the walls of uncanniness, there are a few considerations to be made. Concerns that are very much about humanity, emotion and value. In The Uncanny Virtuality, people will be looking for something authentic, trustworthy and with a heart. Something that they will connect with, not because it was targeted towards them through pandering or to please them, but because the dormant connection already exists on a deeper level. Not everything said and done may be perfect, but it is honest and relatable.

Illustration for AdventureLAB Academy's Mastering Creative Strategy in the Age of AI online course
© 2026 AdventureLAB

At the core of the matter is the question of establishing a healthy culture of virtuality. Doing so includes thoughts on the kinds of ethics and narratives we want to explore and share, and how they reflect who we are and what we aspire to be, whether in a digital, physical, or an amalgamation of both realities. Luckily, there is inspiration out there for establishing an authentic culture. Such as what can be learned from progressive museums that help us understand our past, present and future by balancing cultural heritage, engaging storytelling, and innovative interpretation without losing their own voice, authenticity or credibility. To thine own self be true.

In conclusion, there may yet be hope that we do not get lost in our newfound Uncanny Virtuality. It will not happen if we try to make our way through it, blinded by irrational fear or naive infatuation. As has been the case with so many other technological milestones in human history, as we move forward, we need to learn more with each careful step we take, and without forgetting to look at our compass of morals and humanity once in an ever-so-often while.

"Our Lives in the Uncanny Virtuality" is an updated and revised version of a previously published article on LinkedIn.