‘DisTanz’, is based on the ‘Uncanny Valley’ hypothesis, a characteristic dip in emotional response that happens when we encounter an entity that appears almost, but not quite, human.
With Geminoid F, the world’s first android actress taking a starring role in the Japanese film ’Sayonara’, the question has to be asked if there is still a need for ‘real’ performers. When robot counterparts can replicate the exact same performance night after night, work for weeks on end without complaint and don’t even need to be paid, can as in many other industries, artificial intelligence be the way forward for theatre and dance?