誠如 Berger（1980）所述：探討起源的意義在於更清楚界定進化的過程， 而藉由符號（譬如機器人的符號）可以提供人類世界的經驗某個簡明的圖表及徵兆。是故，本研究從視覺文化研究的觀點（如 Sturken 與 Cartwright，2001／ 陳品秀、吳莉君譯，2013；邱誌勇，2019b），結合歷史研究（Historic Research）之方法，嘗試從機器人的「由剛硬到柔軟（鋼鐵到肉身）」、「由男性到女性」兩種階段的演化進行探索，並藉由大眾流行文化的相關文本，包括動畫、廣告、電影等來進一步驗證說明，分析人－機器人之間的關係。 本研究內容包括：一、機器人的演化史與斷裂點，從機器人初登場的形 象，到 十九世紀科幻文化如何改變機器人的大眾形象，使其產生主體化與人生化之現 象，並探討過程中”人看機器人” 以及”機器人看人”的方式與轉變；二、觀看機 器人的新轉向，包括二戰後的極度現代主義（池田太臣等，2019），如何使機器人形象一分為二，而後現代、後賽博格主義到後人類主義，又是如何使機器人逐漸以肉身化為基礎，並延伸為虛擬身體、虛擬人的存在；三、女性機器人及虛擬人存在的意義，這當中又包含了（一）人－機器人關係中的性別扭轉， （二）虛擬戀人之於現代男性的關係及背後意涵，包括了性別、階級的問題。 我們藉由其再現與認同的情形，進一步歸納出造成”人們看待機器人”接受度消長的「推力」與「拉力」。 綜觀本研究的初探結果，我們可以發現機器人歷經從玩具、工具、武器、到如今肉身化與人性化（心靈化）的演變過程，每一階段的轉化也都反映出人與科技發展的關係，其中，十九世紀科幻文化促使機器人的主體化及人生化， 這時期科幻文化、科技進步及資本主義所交互影響，機器人背後所代表的文化符號也越來越顯著，且反應出時代變遷下的現象，它們從各種家電或機器之中脫穎而出，不再只是單純的一種生產 ／娛樂工具或擺設而已，而在這樣的時空背景下，科幻作品也開始轉向嘲諷社會資本主義。而近代機器人有兩種新轉向 －硬變軟、男變女，其中女性機器人的崛起，與當前單身問題、社會原子化等息息相關。

 As Berger (1980) argues, the significance of exploring origins is to define the process of evolution more clearly, and that symbols (such as those of robots) can provide a concise diagram and indication of the experience of the human world. Therefore, this study, based on the perspective of visual culture studies (e.g., Sturken and Cartwright, 2001/Chen and Wu, trans., 2013; Qiu, 2019b) and combined with the method of historic research, attempts to explore the evolution of robots from "rigid to soft (steel to flesh)" and "from male to female", and further verifies the explanation through relevant texts of popular culture, including animation, advertising, film, etc., and analyzes the relationship between humans and robots. The content of this study includes as follows: First, the evolutionary history and turning point of robots, from the image of robots for the first time to how the sciencefiction culture of the nineteenth century changed the public image of robots, making them subjective and life-oriented, and discussing the ways and transformations of "people looking at robots" and "robots looking at people" in the process. Second, watching the new turn of robots, including post-World War II extreme modernism (Ikeda, et al., 2019), how to divide the robot image into two, and how postmodernism, post-cyborgism to post-humanism made robots gradually become based on physical embodiment, and then extended to the existence of virtual bodies and virtual people. Third, the significance of the existence of female robots and virtual humans, which includes (1) gender reversal in human-robot relationships, (2) the relationship between virtual lovers and modern men and the meaning behind them, including gender and class issues. Through its reproduction and recognition, we further induce the "push" and "pull" that cause the growth of decline of the acceptance of "people to see robots." 

Looking at the preliminary results of this study, we can find that robots have gone through the evolution process from toys, tools, weapons, to today's Incarnation and humanization (spiritualization), and that each stage of the transformation also reflects the relationship between humans and technological development (presented in a relationship diagram, such as Wang & Gao, 2017). During the nineteenth century, when science-fiction culture promoted the subjectification and humanization of robots, science fiction culture, scientific and technological progress and capitalism interacted with each other, the cultural symbols represented by robots became more and more prominent, they reflected the phenomena of the change of the times, robots stood out from various home appliances or machines, and they were no longer just a simple production/entertainment tool or decoration. In this context of time and space, science-fiction works have also begun to turn to mock social capitalism. There are two new turns in modern robots—from hard to soft and male to female, among which the rise of female robots is closely related to the current unmarried problem and social atomization.