ABSTRACT

Authors working hypothesis is that the notion of dehumanization may constitute an illuminating conceptual bridge connecting the emotion of disgust, broadly construed, to the uncanny phenomenon. The uncanny phenomenon poses two different challenges, a technological as well as a philosophical one. The uncanny is also systematically exploited by the film industry. The film industry, however, is far from being the only field in which avoiding the uncanny has proved necessary. Arguably, the era of virtual environments in which geographically distant people can meet and interact in a realistic way is only in its infancy. As it often happens, the technological means used to breathe life into these carefully crafted synthetic worlds owe much to the video game industry. The very complexity of the phenomenon, in author view, suggests that robotics may not be today the best way of exploring the uncanny.