National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation　(Miraikan)

Robots are like the mirror images of us humans. They can be useful in shedding light not only on new discoveries on the mechanisms of the human body and brain, but also on our relationship with the “other” in order to co-exist with them. Within the context of contemporary Japanese art, it is impossible to ignore the artists’ imagination that is induced by the robots portrayed in mangas and animations.

These robots usually do not play slave- or servant-like roles that are common in the Western context. Instead, many of them resemble humans, and confront us with problems such as intelligence, life and death, and gender. Therefore, there is no defining distinction between humans and robots, leaving the boundary ambiguous. This approach to robots could be the supporting grounds for promoting the development of bipedal, humanoid robots or those programmed to work harmoniously with humans and their environments, more so than those that feature high information processing power, autonomous intelligence, and mobility. Developers who use highly advanced technology do not see their robots as just tools or objects. Their creative instincts are stimulated by identifying the robots as the “other.”

Furthermore, with the advancement as well as the wide propagation of information technology in society, robot production is no longer in the hands of a limited number of researchers, but an enterprise that is familiar to all. Free to accessorize to one’s own taste, orengage in game-playing entertainment, robots have become one of the means for human communication.

When observing robots, one should not only pay attention to their cutting edge technology, but also observe their design that defines their relationship with humans for co-existence. In artistic expressions that explore the human identity and the identity of the “other,” to acknowledge a lifeless robot as the absolute “other” against humans in itself could be significant.

For this exhibition, robots that are developed as the result of advancement in technology are presented by the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan). Highly sophisticated in their features, these robots are popular not only among enthusiasts, but also among a broad base of users. They demonstrate the ways in which technology could become an integral part of enhancing human capabilities.

机器人就像是我们人类的镜像投影。它们不仅给人体和大脑机理的新发现带来启示，同时也有助于我们处理与“他者”(the “other”) 的关系，实现和谐共存的目的。在日本当代艺术的语境中，我们无法忽视漫画和动画里描绘的机器人所诱发的艺术想象力。

这些机器人通常不像在西方语境里那样充当类似于奴隶或仆人的角色。相反，许多机器人貌似真人，迫使我们面对智能、生与死、性别等问题。因此，人类与机器人两者之间没有明确的区别，使界线变得模糊。这种对待机器人的态度可以成为支持性的根据，推动双足步行的类人型机器人或是程序控制下与人类及周边环境协调工作的机器人的开发，甚于那些具有高度信息处理能力、自动化智能和机动性的机器人。拥有尖端技术的开发者们并不仅仅把机器人看作是工具或者物体。将机器人认同为“他者”刺激着他们的创造性本能。

而且，随着信息技术在社会中不断进步和广泛渗透，机器人的生产不再操纵在少数研究技术人员手中，而是成为一项人所共知的事业。机器人可由着人的品味打扮，或者参与游戏玩耍的娱乐活动，它们已经成为人类交流的手段之一。

在观察机器人的时候，我们不应该仅仅关注它们先进的技术，也应该观察它们在设计中如何定义与人类共存的关系。在探索人类身份和“他者”身份的艺术表现中，承认没有生命的机器人是人类绝对的“他者”这种意识本身就有着重要的意义。

在这次展览中，日本科学未来馆展示了新开发的机器人，它们是技术进步的结果。这些机器人的性能高度发达，不仅受到热衷者的欢迎，同时也吸引了广泛的使用者。它们表明，技术能够成为不断提高的人类潜能的重要组成部分。