The “uncanny valley” phenomenon in the form of the human-forms pictogram and state and trait anxiety levels

Abstract

Pictograms are visual symbols used by diverse people to convey information without relying on text or language. However, some standard human pictograms evoke fear in scenes where it's unnecessary, thus deviating from the purpose of pictograms. The purpose of this study is to identify the graphic elements that people find frightening, based on the hypothesis that the impression they receive from human pictograms is related to the level of abstraction by focusing on the “uncanny valley phenomenon.” It was revealed that the graphic elements of human pictograms that evoke a sense of fear include shoulders not straight, elongated neck, slender torso, arms, and neck, and overall silhouette is not stable.