Visual Evaluation, Selection & Summary

Robots have always been hyped and glorified by pop culture over the years, be it time-travelling robot assassins, A.I. overlords or simple household assistants. But somehow, they have consistently remained as characters of interest in comics, novels, films and animation with a whole range of roles and archetypes. The visual journal aims to investigate how robots are represented in visual media, and how they appeal to their audience. It looks into both physical features and behavioural characteristics of robots, and how they are suited to their intended purposes. The works of Matt Groening in Futurama, and Andy Suriano in Samurai Jack are some notable examples where robots are cast as the deuteragonists, antagonists and even protagonists in some episodes of the show. It has also been stated by novel writers and animators alike, that great characters are key to great story-telling (Morris, 2013).

In conclusion, I believe the visual journal performs well, and does what it was meant to - breaking down the elements of appeal in all sorts of robots. I feel the progress in the journal is clear, in the sense that the drawings near the end are better looking in terms of appeal and purpose, and so, ultimately, I believe the research was successful. The practical survey distinctly stood out as something worked well, as its results had both unforeseen and obvious correlation. It could, however, be improved by asking more people, and asking them to draw a more specific type of robot. Also, the grouping and categorising might’ve been limited but it allowed for the groups in question to be analysed deeper. The theoretical research working to make the practical research was something I found interesting, especially its scientific aspects. I feel the next step to take to further this work would be how to efficiently break the rules of appeal, and to explore movement and gait of these robots.


5 things that worked well:

1. The practical survey was efficient in that it yielded obvious, yet interesting results.
2. The combining of robots to create multiple robots helped bring out positive and negative design aspects.
3. The flow of the journal shows improvement as design aspects become recognisable and are used.
4. The use of media, like tracing paper to analyse drawings and images while keeping them original so they can be viewed without bias.
5. The breaking down of artists' characters to analyse robot characteristics.

5 things that I would change:

1. I would ask the participants in the survey to draw different types of robots too, such as a fighting robot or an assistant robot. 
2. I would also try to survey more people in order to get more accurate results and a wider range of robots.
3. The section focusing on texture and materials could've explored more textures with secondary examples and references
4. I would separate the robots into more groups for purpose and explore them.
5. I would use more media to depict the robots, like paints, pen and digital instead of just markers.

5 things I want to further investigate:

1. I would take a historical approach to this and look at robots from the past, more specifically automata.
2. I would apply the same process and motive, but with monsters and fearsome beasts.
3. I would break the rules, essentially design robots that look friendly but act violently and vice versa.
4. I would also focus on the movement of the robot, more specifically it's gait.
5. I would look at how to create appealing robots that are plausible in real life.