To my earth-bound mind, the inspiration from iconic eyewear designer Peter Yee’s work seems obvious.
Netflix
If you haven’t already watched the 3 Body Problem on Netflix, which was released on March 21, then you’ve probably at least been bombarded with teaser clips and images for it, depending on the whims of your particular algorithm. Most likely, those promotional images included pictures of a futuristic-looking headset.
Behold, the future of facial computing, according to Netflix’s new hit mega show 3 Body Problem.Netflix
The device plays a central role in the story (which I won’t spoil). It appears fully metallic, smooth, and exceptionally thin, wrapping around character’s heads in a way that makes even the bleeding-edge Apple Vision Pro look ridiculously clunky by comparison.
Visually, it’s an intriguing take on what hyper-advanced and immersive face computers might look like far in the future.
A possible source of inspiration for the headset’s design debuted over 24 years ago
As futuristic as the headset seems, the irony is that the world was exposed to at least a similar aesthetic in dramatic fashion nearly 24 years earlier.
If you haven’t guessed it already, I’m referring to Oakley’s famous (or infamous) OVERTHETOP (OTT) sunglasses. The insane-looking specs were introduced to the world on National TV by Olympic track and field sprinters Nicconer Alexander and Ato Bolden during the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney and created by legendary eyewear designer Peter Yee.
Instead of using temples or arms like most glasses to stay put, the shades featured two curved metallic, hook-like pieces that wrapped snugly over the wearer’s head.
In the following years, the unmistakable eyewear appeared on celebrities like Flavor Flav and Andre 3000 of Outkast, and even a Swedish golfer, Jarmo Sandelin.
Oakley also revived the sunglasses from the original mold it used for the original in 2020. The new edition, dubbed precious mettle OVERTHETOP, was updated with a color that changed from gold to silver and bronze in a nod to Olympic medals. Oakley made just 20 pairs for an astounding $2,000 each, which, along with the original release, you can still hunt down on eBay. After the revival in 2020, Oakley stated it would be destroying the OVERTHETOP mold for good.
While the facemask portion of the 3 Body Problem’s headset may look more like an X-Wing pilot helmet, the smooth arch that stretches over the wearer’s head, presumably to distribute the weight of the headset better, seems similar to Yee’s OVERTHETOP design, at least to me.
Oakley’s 2020 Precious Mettle OVERTHETOP. Oakley
More broadly, the prop also seems imbued with the aesthetic ideal Yee strived to achieve in all of his work for Oakley, which he describes as “accelerating curves.” As Sabukaru notes in their retrospective on his work, Yee focused on “creating a continuous, dynamic flow throughout all his designs” which helped shift Oakley’s brand identity to one of “futurism and hyper functionality.”
What the 3 Body Problem’s production designer says she was inspired by
To be clear, I’m not accusing the production designer of 3 Body Problem, Deborah Riley, of creative theft.
But I find it interesting that in a recent Variety interview, Riley cited looking at “the history of headsets, particularly at NASA” as her primary source of inspiration. Maybe Yee’s work with Oakley was included in that historical overview.
In the same Variety story, Riley mentions that the show’s creators, David Benioff, D.B. Weiss (co-creators of Game of Thrones), and Alexander Woo, wanted something “very seamless. It had to be so technologically advanced that we would never be able to understand how it was made.”
The final prop succeeds on that front, and while Yee’s OVERTHETOP glasses lack the pure, uninterrupted polish of the 3 Three Body Problem headset, the sunglasses finely molded curves somehow feel all the more remarkable over two decades later.