CGI Robert De Niro An Inch Away From Crossing Uncanny Valley
(click to enlarge)
Here’s the order in which CG animation is getting closer and closer: still images, movie special effects, TV special effects, video game graphics.
Here we see pretty much the top of the pyramid which is almost there, but still a little bit creepy. It’s a portrait of young Robert De Niro by Hossein Diba, presumably asking someone if they are in fact, talking to him.
It’s so close to reality it’s scary, and still just a little bit unnerving. Great work though.
I’m not equipped with the vocabulary to describe what’s holding this image back from being a convincing fake, but man that Uncanny Valley is a hard one to cross.
Which, if we’re just honest, is probably a good thing.