Inoue’s text on the act of comforting another (human) as a feature of creatureness intrigued me. A multitude of different aspects of this comfort-giving feature were described, one of which I thought was especially fascinating. Although the physical parts of comforting someone are very interesting to explore as a feature of creatureness, “a sincere gaze” stood out to me. This part of consoling does not rely on physicality, yet a connection that feels innately creatural.
A key part of eye contact as an aspect of consoling is the word sincere. Eye contact can communicate various emotions and non-verbal messages, from hatred and judgement to love. At the same time, we tend to avoid eye contact when feeling embarassed, guilty or insecure. Perhaps we are afraid that our eyes will mirror how we feel, and we want to hide these negative, unwanted feelings away from prying eyes.
In order to somewhat effectively use this non-verbal communication method, we have a significant number of social rules for what is acceptable in terms of eye contact, ranging from duration to how to look away.
Keep eye contact 50% of the time when speaking, 70% when listening
Establish eye contact immediately
Maintain eye contain for 4-5 seconds
Glance away slowly and do so to the side, not down
It is important to note that there are cultural differences in what is deemed acceptable in terms of eye contact (Sprabary, 2022). On top of cultural factors, characteristics such as neurodivergence and social anxiety affect how comfortable we are with eye contact (Sprabary, 2022; Williams, 2024).
Despite individual variation, most people would agree that there is some aspect to eye contact that feels vulnerable. Some would even describe eyes as a mirror of the soul, reflecting even the parts we try to keep hidden from others.
Eye contact, although alluring to explore as part of consoling as a feature of creatureness, also presents some distinct difficulties when translating it to an artificial creature. For one, eye contact and eyes in general pose a risk of landing in the uncanny valley. I believe that this is strongly linked to how important we find eye contact, and the many social rules surrounding eye contact, especially its duration.
Additionally, eyes are quite unique in the sense that they are not easy to visually replicate in a believable manner. We tend to be able to distinguish even fancy androids from humans. There seems to be something that does not quite match up to the natural look of eyes, rather they lack dimension, fall flat, or seem empty.
Thinking back to how eyes are often seen as a mirror of the soul or a mirror of how we are feeling, I thought a hypothetical work harnessing this could be interesting. What if there was some sort of artificial creature that only exists to console the user, and attempts to do that purely by eye contact, mimicking a sincere gaze?
Perhaps this creature could replicate the user’s eyes of choice - e.g. their own, a loved one’s etc. - photorealistically by using real footage of those eyes. For now, let's focus on an example where the user’s own eyes are used.
First, this might require a step to initialise the system by, for example, having the user looking at different points and blink while a camera records the eyes. This footage could then be played by the system in a sequence where the eye movements track the user’s eyes (looking away according to social norms of eye contact), and blink every now and then. To really hone in on the effect of the gaze, only the eyes would be shown, with the rest of the facial features obscured by darkness. By using a real gaze as a foundation, the system might be able to avoid - at least part of - the uncanny valley. It would then, naturally, be crucial that during the intialisation, the recorded gaze would be consoling or comforting in order to have the desired effect later on.
There might be something uncanny about a pair of eyes floating in nothingness, but it would be interesting to see if the consoling effect would still occur when this aspect of consoling is isolated as much as possible. Another aspect that I am curious about is what effect the owner of the eyes has on the experience. How would people react to being consoled by their own eyes? What about eyes of a loved one? Would a stranger’s eyes even have the correct effect?
Coelho, P. (2012). A quote from Manuscript Found in Accra. Goodreads. Retrieved November 13, 2025, from https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/857760-the-eyes-are-the-mirror-of-the-soul-and-reflect
Schulz, J. (2012, December 31). Eye contact: Don’t make these mistakes. MSU Extension. Retrieved November 13, 2025, from https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/eye_contact_dont_make_these_mistakes
Sprabary, A. (2022, July 6). How important is eye contact in communication? All About Vision. Retrieved November 13, 2025, from https://www.allaboutvision.com/resources/human-interest/importance-of-eye-contact/
Williams, L. (2024, November 29). Eye contact in adults with autism. The Autism Service. Retrieved November 13, 2025, from https://www.theautismservice.co.uk/news/eye-contact-in-adults-with-autism/