The History of the Daft Punk Helmet

While Daft Punk‘s new album Random Access Memories is less than one month away, you might as well let your history knowledge continue going strong and reiterate the development of the duo’s iconic helmets via the graphic below. The image displays the various stages the helmets went through, starting off with Daft Punk’s second studio album Discovery in 2001. It further covers the duo’s “Transition” era, which runs until their third LP Human After All in 2005, and the band’s Post-Tron Era from 2010 until today. Have a more detailed look at the image as well as the respective helmet feature listings below. Random Access Memories arrives May 21 via Daft Life Limited, an imprint of Columbia Records.

“Discovery” Features
Advanced LED displays.
Backpacks containing processors for the LEDs (initially battery powered, eventually DC powered).
Ribbed black tubes containing wired running from backpacks to helmets (amount of tubes varied depending on animation displayed).
Ribbed ‘neck seals’ that covered the neck.

“Transition” Features
A brand new sculpt of the helmets including smaller size and sharper details.
New but smaller LED displays.
Thomas’ display is comprised of a single row of red LEDs.
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.

“Human After All” Features
No LEDs, except for the ones on Guy-Mans ears that are purely ornamental.
Thomas’ mouth is no longer a smile, but now just a lit.
Both visors are now black.
Neither wear the ribbed neck coverings as seen in previous incarnations.
New gloves: during a fan interview with Thomas he remarked that their new gloves were made out of a Lycra/Spandex material, with pads in the fingertips to make it easier to use their instruments. The gloves appear to be elbow length.

“Post-Tron” Features
Guy-Man’s helmet now lacks:
- The false wires on the back.
- The false LEDs and audio jack at the bottom of the ear
- 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.