Uncanny valley

A concept in robotics and animation describing the discomfort people feel when a humanoid figure looks almost, but not quite, realistic. As robots or avatars approach human likeness, they can provoke feelings of eeriness or revulsion before reaching full realism. In accessibility and assistive technology design, the uncanny valley is an important consideration when creating social robots or virtual agents for neurodivergent users, who may have heightened sensitivity to subtle social and visual cues.