In the vast landscape of TikTok trends, a particularly eerie phenomenon has emerged, leaving users both captivated and unsettled. If you’ve found your For You page haunted by creepy faces, fear not – you’re not alone in this unnerving experience.
What Is Uncanny Valley?
@blondeicedcoffee i’m having too much fun #uncannyvalley #uncannymakeup #uncannyvalleymakeup #makeup #robot #iamnotarobot #trending #trend #horror #challenge #halloween #horrormakeup #specialeffects #foryou #spooky #scary #viral #uncanneyvalleystare
The latest trend is known as the Uncanny Valley Trend, and its origins delve into the intriguing realm of the Uncanny Valley itself. Coined to describe faces that appear almost human but possess an unsettling quality, the term has found renewed relevance on TikTok.
The History of Uncanny Valley
The concept of the Uncanny Valley was first introduced by Masahiro Mori, a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, in the 1970s. Mori believed that when robots are designed to resemble humans too closely, they enter a zone where their appearance becomes discomforting to human observers.
In an interview with IEEE Spectrum, Mori explained, “Since I was a child, I have never liked looking at wax figures. They looked somewhat creepy to me. At that time, electronic prosthetic hands were being developed, and they triggered in me the same kind of sensation. These experiences had made me start thinking about robots in general, which led me to write that essay. The uncanny valley was my intuition. It was one of my ideas.”
Mori even developed a graph to illustrate the delicate threshold at which the discomfort peaks, marking a boundary between acceptably human-like and deeply unsettling. Now, Mori’s fifty year old concept is making waves in the TikTok makeup world.
The Uncanny Valley Trend
@rjchumbley Just your average human neighbors 👋🏿👋🏻 @TheGoddessBoys #uncannyvalley #uncanny #doppelgänger #MIB #alien
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Beauty and makeup influencers on TikTok have become enthralled by the haunting aesthetic of the Uncanny Valley Trend. The unnerving makeup looks have gained traction, with some influencers going as far as using digital visual effects.
@art_by__alyssa make a tiktok filter with me🫣✍🏼 #art #artist #procreate #facepaint #makeup #uncannyvalley #uncannyvalleyeffect #uncannyvalleymakeup #filter #filters #effects #effect #effecthouse #effecthousecreator #fyp #foryou #foryoupage
One TikToker, in particular, developed an Uncanny Valley filter based on the unsettling makeup looks, further contributing to the trend’s popularity.
@chrizzwithrizz_ I did all of the make up in adobe after effect #uncannyvalley #makeup #vfx
Whether users are daring enough to experiment with the Uncanny Valley trend or prefer to observe from a distance, there is no denying the impact these videos are having well beyond Spooky Season.
