Abstract
The Uncanny Valley is a phenomenon first described by Masahiro Mori in 1970. The theory notes that the more advanced our technology becomes the more similar to us robots become, and this human resemblance unnerves us. Back in the 50’s, there were many industrial robots, the kind of robots that do not have a human-like face or legs, or any close resemblance to humans. Those robots just rotated, extended or contracted their arms. They still remain machines with specific functions (Mori 1). On the contrary, “the designer of a toy robot puts importance on a robot’s appearance rather than its function; the robot will have a somewhat humanlike appearance with a face, two arms, two legs, and a torso. This design lets children enjoy a sense of familiarity with the humanoid toy” (Mori 1). With the thriving of technology, more machines have programs that make them respond to us like humans, such as iPhone Siri. I would like to compare and contrast the relationship between human and robot by closely studying literature that discusses about this subject, and alone with other theses that concerning technology with human. I would also like to discuss, how the technology has been developed, and has caused humans to act more and more like robots. Lastly, I would like to use some examples from movies, dramas or plays such as Kubrick, Stanley’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and Shakespeare’s Coriolanus to venture into the Theory of “The Uncanny Valley”.
Author Information
Yi-Hua Lin, National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan
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