Apple’s Sunny imagines a cozy future where screens take a backseat

Sunny, a new sci-fi dramedy on Apple TV Plus, is different from most visions of the future — mainly because it has almost no screens. Instead, the show imagines a time when technology is more seamlessly integrated into our lives. Phones rely mostly on audio, friendly robots help around the house, and computer monitors look like they’re made of paper. For showrunner Katie Robbins and the rest of the production team, the design Sunny it became an opportunity to do something different in the realm of science fiction.

“It was an incredible pleasure and challenge to think: if we could change things in the world we live in, what would we change?” Robbins explains. “How would we change the way we interact with our technology?”

These differences manifest themselves in a few ways. While everyone in Sunny looks like charging a phone, for example, they are very different from modern smartphones. Inspired by the design of Japanese lighters from the 1960s, the devices are curved rectangles that can be opened to reveal a screen. But almost no one on the show uses them that way. Instead, they pop an AirPods-style earbud into one ear (the phone also doubles as a headphone case) and do almost everything by voice.

When characters need to do something visually – browse search results or play a multiplayer game – there’s a built-in projector. And when the citizens of this future actually interact with a screen, be it a telephone, a computer or a television playing news 24 hours a day in a convenience store, the screen appears to be made of electronic paper. Robbins says the displays were all designed to look like the shoji screens found in many Japanese homes to make them fit more naturally into the environment.

Part of what makes it all work is that Sunny It largely feels out of time. The show follows Suzie (Rashida Jones), who teams up with robotic domestic assistant Sunny (Joanna Sotomura) to solve the mystery of her husband Masa’s (Hidetoshi Nishijima) disappearance. It’s set in Kyoto, but when This happens is not very clear. The show is vaguely futuristic, with lots of robots and voice assistants that can actually understand you, but it’s also decidedly retro when it comes to things like fashion and music. Robbins says the temporal ambiguity is intentional. “We never wanted to specifically time and date the show so it could feel like 10 years in the future, 30 years in the future, or an alternate now,” she says. “We wanted it to feel familiar and approachable and not futuristic in a really open way.”

Many of the decisions regarding technology – and screens in particular – also came from a practical point of view. “We wanted to, as much as possible, avoid screen inserts and that kind of thing, and characters constantly picking up their phones and scrolling,” says Robbins. Having most of the communication happen via voice provides a better experience for the viewer, keeping the focus on the actors, but it also creates tension for the series’ main character. Suzie has lived in Japan for a decade, but due to the ubiquitous real-time translation technology found on her phone, she has never had to learn the language. She simply puts on her headphones and talks.

“Which is miraculous and in some ways incredibly connective and allows her to live in a place where she otherwise wouldn’t be able to communicate with people,” says Robbins. “However, there is also a barrier within this technology. Imagine if you lived in a place where almost all of your interactions with the people you listened to were translated into your ear. Although technology is bringing people together, it is also creating a barrier that I find really interesting.”

As for robots, and Sunny in particular, the concept of a cute and friendly assistant also came from a story point of view. Suzie is someone with a deep distrust of technology who is also going through an extremely difficult time with the loss of her husband and son. “What if the robot is potentially what gets her out of this situation?” Robbins remembers thinking.

After some research into the field of human-robot interaction – and working with the team at the visual effects powerhouse Wētā Workshop – Robbins managed to find a look that both Suzie It is viewers would relate, complete with a big round face with huge, extremely expressive eyes that do an incredible job of conveying emotions. “Something that felt really cute and approachable and friendly so you could imagine falling in love with it,” explains Robbins.

At a time when many of us seem to be desperately searching for some kind of solution to our hyperconnected present, there is a lot of appeal in Sunnythe vision. Bots are generally friendly and helpful when you need them and easy to ignore when you don’t. Meanwhile, phones are connectivity tools, not attention-consuming black holes, and people do talk to each other (even if sometimes mediated by a translator). In a world of Boox Palmas, Daylight tablets and AI tools that leave a lot to be desired, the Sunny the phone could definitely attract an audience – which was the goal all along.

“That was the hope,” says Robbins. “We have the chance to design something here. Let’s design something we would like.”