The “uncanny valley” is a term first translated in 1978 from professor Masahiro Mori’s ‘bukimi no tani genshō’, and it was first used to refer to human replicas that appear almost, but not exactly, like real human beings and how these elicit feelings of eeriness and revulsion among some observers. It is called a valley, because according to observations, when something is almost a caricature of the real thing, we accept it as such, and when is identical, of course we do as well. The uncanny valley occurs only right in between, when it is slightly off.
I think it is a quite useful concept, and it applies similarly to many other things. For example, I have become an enthusiast of plant-based meat substitutes. Personally, I believe that some of the burguer and chicken nugget products have crossed the valley. There are some other products though, that are right in the valley just now. Another example are synthesized instruments, where clearly electronic synthesizer sounds can be very pleasant, but a bad saxophone imitation makes us cringe.
So with time and effort, there is progress, and things get closer to perfect, but just about there, lies the uncanny valley, and the risk is to stop trying when the end goal is so close.
How about you? Do so you the uncanny valley showing up anywhere else?