Robots Also Act Cute

Miao+Ruojiu

In the early spring of this year， the movie" Big Hero 6" have achieved Baymax， a white robot， making it the most famous cartoon characters on the internet. The plump and white body， two black eyes connected by a black string， and a lovely self-introduction make it so "adorable."

Since when the robots have became so lovely and vivid！ The movies like "Big Hero 6" have contributed a lot. Then， how can they act so cute on earth？

Warm “Adorable”

Representatives： " Big Hero 6" "My Neighbor Totoro"

In the movie " Big Hero 6"， undoubtedly Baymax is an indispensable member in the robot team. This oversized inflatable robot is only intended to be a medical partner. With a simple scanning， it can detect the life index， and according to the patient's degree of pain， it can treat almost all diseases. After the upgrades of Hiro， a good partner of Baymax， it then possesses "rocket glove" and super strength. It can become a soldier against the criminals.

But many moviegoers may not remember these high-tech elements， or "inflatable robot" full of sci-fi-style setting， instead they are very likely to remember the adorable Baymax. Round and plump body， a good heart of taking care of others， as well as the friendship between it and mechanical genius Hiro， have made it similar with Totoro in the "My Neighbor Totoro"， a animated film of Miyazaki.

Baymax has two black eyes connected by a black string on its face. This inspiration also comes from Japan， whose prototype is an old-fashioned cat bell. This extremely simple facial expressions help Baymax express its inner feelings with rich body movements. For example， Baymax will hug Hiro when he is in depression to express its love， and at the same time by heating his body to give warmth. In this case， slightly reddish Baymax， has become a "airbag" comforting both peoples body and heartt. Such a plot will inevitably make the audiences think of their old friends in the life journey who had brought comfort to them.

Robots Acting Cute at Early Times

Representatives： "Rossum Universal Robots" "Pinocchio" "Bicentennial Man"

The lovely Baymax is not the first robot in the history of science fiction movies who act cute， of course， it will not be the last neither. In the long history of science fiction movies， there are countless others with cute appearance or temperament traits.

In the science fiction society， people generally believes that， the term "robot" originates from the dramatic work "Rossum Universal Robots" created by Czech playwright Karl Capek in 1921.

Although from the present point of view， these robots may actually be a combination of a cloned human and mechanical equipment， but they introduce， after all， some new concepts： humans can create a kind of "people"， and have them do some hard labor for humankind； but if not properly controlled， these creatures will revolt， and even destroy mankind. Whether the story plots or the images of robots in the dramatic works， "universal robots" described by these Czechs， have nothing to do with cute.

With that said， 40 years before that， a fantasy literature work which describes an artificial machinery that has life or consciousness， got great attention at that time. It is Italian fairy tale "Pinocchio" which is known to the modern people. Some research shows that the prototype of puppet Pinocchio， is a dwarf serving in the military. After the loss of limbs and disfigured by war， he became a circus in curious for exhibits. But the writer reworked into this tragic story and made it a lovely fairy tale in which the puppet eventually became a real person. Although this story has almost no scientific elements， its story structure is learnt by many science fiction stories of robots themes in later generations， such as "Bicentennial Man" by Isaac Asimov. In the movie "Bicentennial Man"， the "male" servo robot who initiatively gives up the eternal life to become mankind， is so cute， as well as the "female" robot helps him at the home.

They Have Their Own Adorable Traits

Representatives： "Astro Boy" "Robot Story" "Star Wars"

Since the beginning of the 1950s， Japan has became the land of robot themed science fictions. In 1951， the Japanese cartoonist Osamu Tezuka created the image "Astro Boy". "Astro Boy" then becomes the world's first robot themed series of cartoons.

In 1951， the Japanese cartoonist Osamu Tezuka created "Astro Boy" image. "Astro Boy" went on to become the world's first robot theme of a series of cartoons.

Since then， with the economic recovery in Japan， science fiction and animation works involving robotics， and other related future technologies have increased. In 1958， Japan cartoonist Yokoyama Hikaruki published a science fiction comic "Iron Man on the 28，" in which a fictional ultimate weapon was developed in the "Second World War". The concept of manned or remote-controlled huge humanoid mechanical weapons first came into beings. It has inspired animation and video games related works， such as " Robotech： The Macross Saga " " Gundam " series， "Power Dolls" series etc. In 1969， Fujimoto Hiroshi， the Japanese cartoonist cooperated with Asukako Sowoong to start writing comics， "A Dream". Today， it has been one of the world's leading comics and can be regards as a symbol of Japanese culture.

While in Europe and the United States where science fiction literature and films are more emphasized， the advances on film technology， particularly the development of computer special effects in movies， have made so many ambitious and complex sci-fi movie visions possible.

In 1977， George Lucas completed the shot of the first science fiction movie "Star Wars". It has not only embarked a new era when sci-fi blockbuster makes a big fortune， but also made the sci-fi roles in the film， C-3PO， the servo robot and R2-D2， the repair robot known to all. They even enjoy greater popularity than Skywalker Luke， the protagonist and Darth Vader， the villain in the movie.

The height difference between C-3PO and R2-D2， seems to be a milestone in the history of acting cute enlightening many newcomers. For example， the robots Walle， Eve and some other robots supporting roles in the sci-fi animated movie "WALL-E"， which created a stir a few years ago， have their own adorable traits and create a big boom among young people. In particular， many moviegoers love Walle， the cleaning robot who protected the Earth till the last minute， because of its simple， honest， and a little awkward personality. Related toys are becoming hot as well.

Looking back today the robot images， Astro Boy， A Dream and Walle etc， appearing in the comics， TV screens and even on the big screen， we can still find some adorable traits on them. For example， they all have a lovely appearance and amazing abilities. With these transcending-age abilities， they help the needy or against the enemy， bring some positive changes to people's lives.

Various kinds of adorable robots on the screen， display humans longing and yearning for a bright future. Maybe someday， robots like Baymax and Walle which have human intelligence and emotional will appear in our world， delivering their warmth and love.

Robots， Double-edged Sword in the Hands of Human Beings

From the stories when Luban produced wood birds and craftsman Yanshi offered machinery Gigolo， humankind has the longing for robots or automated machinery for over 2，000 years. In the last 100 years， thanks to the development of computer and mechatronics technology， people have developed all kinds of different functions of the robots with increasing performance. Finally， the robots come from the science fiction movies and comics to hundreds of thousands ordinary peoples lives. Advances on film technology， particularly the development of computer special effects in movies， have made so many ambitious and complex sci-fi movie visions possible.

However， advances on robotics， in fact， also pose risks for the future society. Many Futurology research works and science fiction literature have described dark scenes that robots replace human labor， and most of humankind struggle at the bottom of society. In a science fiction， future remuneration is calculated by hours， however humans need to sleep six to eight hours. In such a standard measure of income， human-machine hybrid and revamped human beings are not as competitive as robots. People will die if they dont get hour income， so pure humankind have to kill each other， and then through a device from the underworld to steal other pure humans time so as to keep their life.

Others futurology and science fiction works describe a seemingly bright but in fact instable future. When the intelligent robot " takes” in charge of every aspects of human， from dressing up， having meal to thinking and learning， mankind will gradually yield to laziness in a comfortable environment， so that civilization will stall because of the lost of drive for innovation， and then civilization will degrade. Finally one day， some external force， such as the invasion of an alien civilization， computer viruses， bugs or nuclear electromagnetic pulse （EMP） attack， controls or eradicates all the robots， the idle and fat humans will be unable to resist. People will die out or become animals and slaves， at best， linger on deserted ruins.

Compared to these distant future scenes， like thought experiment， man himself "releasing" robots is， in fact， a more imminent threat. To reduce casualties in the war， modern humans are constantly moving robot to the direction of "autonomous killing machine". Although so far， all military robots require human soldiers in the rear of the remote control， who can guarantee that their programs never go wrong？ What's more， maybe one day， an artificial intelligence fighter， like the one showed in science fiction movie "Stealth" will appear， and after a program failure or "evolution"， they will not hesitate to attack their comrades.

Robotics has achieved rapid development in the second half of 20th century and the early of 21st century， bringing all mankind a hallucinations of "master of everything ". People experienced the same feeling at the beginning of the 19th century and 20th century when the shipbuilding industry and the airship manufacturing technology achieved rapid development. But not until the Titanic sank and the luxury airship Hindenburg burned into wreckage， people suddenly realized that technology is not foolproof and perfectly safe； the blind worship of technology， often inadvertently make horrible disaster come. Perhaps the expectation we have for robots is the same. This time， once the collapse comes， losses may be greater.

Robots in science fiction works originally display humans yearning for a better future， but for the fear of the accelerated and even uncontrollable development of technology， it is also a reflection of or escape from the gloomy reality. We hope the adorable partners with positive energy on the screen will bring us a less gloomy future.

Fighter Plane with Human Intelligence

In the sci-fi movie "Stealth"， there is an unmanned combat aircraft （UCAV） called Eddie. It is a fighter plane programmed by three extremely good pilots in the Naval Air Forces with many years of rich experience. It combines the most advanced AI intelligent computer control system with the latest stealth fighter. On a rainy night with thunder and lightning， four stealth fighters （including UCAV Eddie） returned the fleet after the flight training， and were suddenly hit by a bunch of thunder from low altitude. The control system of unmanned aircraft Eddie， was impacted by strong currents and eventually landed on an aircraft carrier in the deck. The heavy attack directly leaded to the "wake up" of intelligent computer and magically enabled it to have human intelligence.