The Evolution Of Daft Punk’s Helmet

Daft Punk has returned! After their first ever teaser of Random Access Memories (RAM) appeared on Tv on SNL’s commercial, the fans of this massive electronic duo begin asking about what kind of tunes that will be sent out on their fourth album.

The news about RAM has been such a buzz after the duo stated some big names like Todd Edwards, Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams will be contributing on it. Then another buzz also dropped for Coachella, the duo was rumored to do a show after Phoenix, but it ended up that R.Kelly who was the one that got on stage. But, before we want to argue on how RAM will be we would like to share the history of their iconic helmet, right from the Discovery Era until the Tron Era.

The Discovery Era ( 2001 – 2005 )

In the first circa, Daft Punk wore various kind of helmets (they were simple and a bit complex). Then the LED company called LED FX worked with their helmets and created some mould breaking variations which made the helmets capable to display texts and sync the texts (effects) to the music.
Features :
•    Displayed LEDs and effects
•    The gauntlets had buttons which could control some stored animations to be displayed.
•    The helmets had a pin-hole size that would help them to see it through.
•    Thomas’s helmet had ventilation holes just below his visor.

Transition Helmets

People used to misrecognize this as the Discovery Era’s helmets, but if you look closely, you’ll see some differences on them. The transtition helmets were sharper that the old ones but the new ones didn’t provide many LED’s displays since the backpacks (used for the batteries) were not used anymore. And yes, this helped Thomas and Guy-Man to do more moves and make them more flexible.
Features :
•    A brand new sculpt of the helmets including smaller size and sharper details.
•    New but smaller LED displays.
o    Thomas’ display is comprised of a single row of red LEDs.
o    Guy-Man’s display appears to be limited to just two greed LED eyes (although not commonly used).
•    Thomas’ visor is tinted red, Guy-Man’s is mirror gold.
•    The helmets separate into two halves.
•    The back of Guy-Mans helmet is now permanently present, and the gap is filled with fake green, white and red wires.

The Human After All Era ( 2005 – 2010 )

For the Human After All Era (HAAE), Daft Punk made a whole differences on their helmets (as well their music went to another dimension) which reflected to their image. The HAEE’s helmets were modified to smaller shape and size. From the various effects that the helmets could produce, they went to the simpler feature and tend to the millennium colours (the visors are black). If you observe on Thomas’ helmet smile, it’s not a smile anymore, but a just a  lit. On the gloves, they got the same gloves not like the previous one they got different gloves. In the HAEE, they had two kinds of their helmets’ stock. First, they have the backup helmets and second, they have the encore helmets.
Features :
•    The gloves were made of lycra/spandex which helped them more in using their instruments.
•    The ribbed neck covers were not used anymore.
•    Their encore helmets’ suit had wired on them that would turned red.

The Tron Era ( 2010 – Present )

As Daft Punk appeared as cameors in Tron Legacy (2010), their helmets were produced by Ironhead Studios, which was a company that worked for the film’s special effects. The helmets featured a dull metal finish and white/light blue LEDs. The looks of the helmets have turned edgier than the previous ones.
Features :
•    Guy-Man’s helmet now lacks:
o    The false wires on the back.
o    The false LEDs and audio jack at the bottom of the ear
o    The black/dark green circle in the cone of the ear
•    In general, Guy-Man’s helmet has been streamlined, and many gaps have been filled in.
•    Thomas’ helmet now has a black mesh behind his mouth
•    Their gloves seem all new, including the currently unidentified fabric.

We surely can’t wait to listen to Daft Punk’s newest album, Random Access Memories, that will be released on May 20th 2013. To sneak on how the album will most likely sound, let’s check on the crowd’s recorded video of Daft Punk’s teaser at Coachella 2013.

Source : The Daft Club