I came across another Australia-specific blog index and search yesterday. I always puzzle a bit over these. Isn't the point of the web that it's global? 

Uncanny valley 

Amy's comment about a possible point of diminishing returns when it comes to game graphics reminded me yet again of the uncanny valley concept. It's rather like my dad's non-sensical joke that I always loved: why is an oven when its hot: because the nearer you get to it you can't.

It's undoubtedly true, and it's something I struggle with as a maker. My natural desire is to make things as close to real as possible - I think it's probably a kind of God/creator complex - but I feel now as if more abstract and less naturalistic imagery is more likely to convey the essense of something. I'm not sure if getting to the essence of a character is what gamers are concerned with, but if it makes their characters more convincing, I don't see why it wouldn't be.

Michael thinks the uncanny valley concept translates across to the sciences, too. Take modelling scientific representations of the world for research mathematically. You can try to include every single aspect of the world in your model, but the only way you are going to do it exactly is to actually re-create the world, which is impossible! Better to simplify and abstract, and try to get to the essence that way.

I also found myself wondering about similarities between the kind of graphic animation used in gaming and the kind being experimented with in 3D real-time puppetry. I saw some of this kind of puppetry programming at the puppetry summit. It's a process of creating images with 3D shapes, skinning them with textures, and giving them actions and shape-morphing properties. They can then be manipulated in real time, using fairly sophisticated joysticks, in a live theatre setting. I wonder if cross-over links between gaming and 3D puppetry are extensive yet, or if they are more running in parallel? Imagine gaming in a live theatre setting...