The uncanny valley effect and immune activation in virtual reality

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Immunology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• The uncanny valley describes observer discomfort with nearly human-like virtual agents.
• The Pathogen Avoidance Hypothesis links this discomfort to evolved pathogen avoidance mechanisms.
• It remains unclear if uncanny agents elicit mucosal immune responses, especially when avoidance is impossible.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between the uncanny valley effect and mucosal immune responses.
• To compare changes in salivary immunoglobulin A (sIgA) levels when encountering different virtual agents.
• To determine if virtual reality presence influences this immune response.

Main Methods:

• Developed three sets of virtual agents: cartoon, uncanny, and realistic.
• Participants engaged in a social virtual reality (VR) task requiring close approach.
• Measured changes in salivary immunoglobulin A (sIgA) levels before and after VR interaction.

Main Results:

• Uncanny virtual agents, despite being more human-like than cartoon agents, significantly increased sIgA release.
• This immune response was linked to the level of presence and involvement in the virtual reality environment.
• Conscious evaluations of anxiety or eeriness did not correlate with increased sIgA.

Conclusions:

• Perception of uncanniness in VR can automatically trigger mucosal immune responses, similar to real contagion threats.
• This suggests an error-management bias in perceptual systems, prioritizing false positives for potential contagion cues.
• Virtual reality presence is crucial for activating these immune responses via uncanny agents.