Snout

a breathing apparatus , when they are sitting on the "chair" its connected to give air or aliments or whatever ( imo ! )

Trouble is....the hologram jockeys have longer snouts that look connected to their rib cage.....just like our original 1979 jockey.

Yes Mark but remember that is a 'suit' now ;) ... so it's all connected ... I also agree it's breathing apparatus ... or has Giger gone too far? lol ... Maybe that top 'window' does open so there's a space vaccum present ... because there's nothing in that room that would fly around or out or even mess that room up in anyway ... actually there's NO implements anywhere ... NOTHING ... what the hell do they do throughout their lives? ...

[b]ALIEN LIFE CYCLE:[/b] [img]http://www.museumsyndicate.com/images/3/20287.jpg[/img] If Giger's Alien cycle image above (my sincere pardon if I didn't post it correctly) was there at the inception of ALIEN then the helmet/suit idea was an early one. I had always assumed it was the SJ's trunk until I saw this. I still like the idea of the SJ as a giant elephantine being and feel a little disappointed that I have to accept that it's a suit/helmet, even if it's "biomechanical".

@Mafetu ... Edited post for you ... ;) ... @Rsand ... Yes indeed ... good point ...

Have we considered that it's not just vacuum they're shielding themselves from? What if they also serve as some sort of bio-hazard or battle suit?