Creepy "city"
Mar. 31st, 2009 01:09 amI went to Bridgeport Village with David yesterday. We heard about some plant displays that local nurseries had set up in the shopping center.
What a creepy place. It's like a mini Main Street, but without any trace of grime or decay or history.
It was an example of the Uncanny Valley, but in this case it was a city rather than a human that was being simulated, closely but not closely enough.
The cognitive dissonance came to a head when I was walking along the perfect streets and heard a bird... my first thought was that it was a bird recording being played over and over again, or perhaps a kid's toy that I was hearing coming out of one of the stores nearby.
No, David pointed up into the street tree nearby. It was a real bird, the only real bird for a quarter of a mile, a male calling for a mate that will never be.
What a creepy place. It's like a mini Main Street, but without any trace of grime or decay or history.
It was an example of the Uncanny Valley, but in this case it was a city rather than a human that was being simulated, closely but not closely enough.
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The cognitive dissonance came to a head when I was walking along the perfect streets and heard a bird... my first thought was that it was a bird recording being played over and over again, or perhaps a kid's toy that I was hearing coming out of one of the stores nearby.
No, David pointed up into the street tree nearby. It was a real bird, the only real bird for a quarter of a mile, a male calling for a mate that will never be.