Uncanny Speech - Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments - page 213

Chapter 11
Uncanny Speech

Angela Tinwell
University of Bolton, UK

Mark Grimshaw
University of Bolton, UK

Andrew Williams
University of Bolton, UK

AbstrAct

With increasing sophistication of realism for human-like characters within computer games, this chapter
investigates player perception of audio-visual speech for virtual characters in relation to the Uncanny
Valley. Building on the findings from both empirical studies and a literature survey, a conceptual frame-
work for the uncanny and speech is put forward which includes qualities of speech sound, lip-sync,
human-likeness of voice, and facial expression. A cross-modal mismatch for the fidelity of speech with
image can increase uncanniness and as much attention should be given to speech sound qualities as
aesthetic visual qualities by game developers to control how uncanny a character is perceived to be.

INtrODUctION

revealed a tech demo ( The Casting ) for the com-
puter game Heavy Rain (2006), in which the
main character, Mary Smith, evoked a somewhat
negative responsive from the audience (Gouskos,
2006). Criticism was made of the uncanny nature
of Mary Smith's speech in that it sounded strange
and out of context with the given facial expression
and emotion portrayed by this character. A closer
inspection of the video showed that not only were
there errors in the sound recording (disparities be-
tween the acoustics and the volume and materials
of the room with excessive plosives contradicting
the distant camera and microphone), but a lack of
correct pitch and intonation for speech and a lack

As technological advancements allow for the rep-
resentation of high fidelity, realistic, human-like
characters within computer games, aspects of a
character's appearance and behaviour are being
associated with the Uncanny Valley phenomenon.
(A definition of the Uncanny Valley is provided
in the first section of this chapter.) It seems that
one of the main factors contributing to a character
being regarded as lifeless as opposed to lifelike is
the character's speech. In 2006, Quantic Dream