Kurosh ValaNejad

Performance within the Uncanny Valley only seems believable on virtual characters with creepy body-language, like zombies in horror flicks.

But there is another set of mannerisms that may prove as successful on hyper-realistic models and that is the chaotic jerks associated with seizure disorders, like epilepsy, and tic disorders, like Tourrette syndrome.

The difference being that this class of expressions can generate sympathy in the audience, rather than revulsion which is typically associated with this phenomenon.

Judge for yourself by making the trek to the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach to see Call Me Ishmael by Daniel Joseph Martinez. This sculpture that looks just like its creator, uses hydraulics to mimic everything from small spasms to violent seizures, and includes an eye-roll that gave me a strong urge to hold him so he would stop hurting himself.