Reducing the uncanny valley by dehumanizing humanoid robots

Humanoid robots are often experienced as unnerving, a psychological phenomenon called the uncanny valley. Past work reveals that humanlike robots are unnerving in part because they are ascribed humanlike feelings. We leverage this past work to provide a potential solution to the uncanny valley. Three studies reveal that dehumanizing humanoid robots-stripping robots of their apparent capacity for feelings-can significantly reduce the uncanny valley. Participants high on trait dehumanization (Study 1) or experimentally instructed to dehumanize (Study 2) reported lower feelings of uncanniness when viewing a humanoid robot, an effect mediated by reduced perceptions of feelings. We replicate these effects in an experimental field study where hotel guests interacted with real humanoid robots in Japan, and reveal that dehumanization reduces the uncanny valley without decreasing customers' satisfaction (Study 3).

Automated summary

The studies demonstrate that dehumanizing humanoid robots can significantly reduce the uncanny valley, resulting in less feelings of unease among viewers, and this effect is mainly achieved by reducing perceptions of emotions towards the robots.