There are some truly incredible technological innovations in the Star Trek universe. Faster-than-light travel is just the beginning. Teleportation, holographic projection, artificial intelligence, antimatter weaponry, and countless other groundbreaking creations make life in the 24th-century fun and easy. These classic sci-fi concepts are fantastic, but the future still holds some old-fashioned miracles. Take Geordi La Forge, a blind man who uses technology to see.
Gene Roddenberry created Geordi La Forge as a memorial to a quadriplegic Star Trek fan who passed away in 1975. A fellow fan of The Original Series, LeVar Burton, took on the role for seven seasons of The Next Generation and four feature films. He's back in the uniform for the third season of Star Trek: Picard.
Why does Geordi La Forge Wear a Visor?
In short, Geordi La Forge was born blind. The visor allows him to see. Geordi La Forge was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, on February 16, 2335. La Forge suffered an unknown congenital disorder that claimed his sight. His parents, Starfleet exozoologist Edward M. La Forge and USS Hera captain Silva La Forge, are sighted. The Federation specifically forbids meddling with DNA to mend congenital issues in all but the most dire cases. Since his parents were relatively important Starfleet representatives, Geordi moved around consistently in his youth. For the first five years of his life, Geordi lived without sight. As he tells it, he was caught in a catastrophic fire that almost killed him. Shortly thereafter, five-year-old Geordi La Forge got his first VISOR and saw the world for the first time.
La Forge wore a VISOR for most of his life. They allowed him to see, which enabled him to pursue his passion for engineering. He idolized Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of the first warp drive. He grew to master technology like the antimatter generator and the dilithium regulator. From ages five to his late 30s, Geordi wore a VISOR almost every moment of every day. Between 2371 and 2373, La Forge replaced his VISOR with a pair of cybernetic ocular implants. During a brief stay in the Ba'ku ring system, "metaphasic" radiation allowed his ocular nerves to naturally repair themselves, temporarily "curing" Geordi's blindness. Though many people would jump at the opportunity to heal the organs they were born with, La Forge still resists the Federation's scheme to abuse Ba'ku's unique characteristics. Even when an end to his disability was in his grasp, he was happy to live as he had for his entire life.
How does Geordi La Forge's VISOR Work?
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The VISOR (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement) is a mass-produced piece of medical technology that enables the blind to see. Prototype versions existed from at least the 2250s, but the date of its invention is unknown. The VISOR detects electromagnetic signals across the entire known spectrum. The data is then delivered directly to the wearer's brain through a neural implant embedded in their temples. The electromagnetic imagery is compressed into a delta wavelength, which matches the slowest recorded brain wave activity, and pulsed rhythmically to avoid overloading the senses.
The view through a VISOR is vastly different from that of ordinary human eyes. Sighted people tend to find wearing a VISOR disorienting. VISORS have a couple of notable weaknesses. They routinely caused Geordi pain due to conflicting data between his senses and its data. He refused any treatment for the issue to avoid losing any of its effectiveness. The neural implants also opened the wearer to forms of brainwashing, which negatively impacted Geordi multiple times. Though it has drawbacks, the VISOR's capabilities should be celebrated.
The VISOR frequently allowed Geordi to perceive things that others couldn't. Geordi could examine a being that moved at warp speed, detect a person's heart rate, determine dishonesty by spotting perspiration, project his visuals onto other machines, and accurately measure data transmission from remote sources. Geordi La Forge can see radio waves, infrared, ultraviolet, and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation. With the help of the VISOR, he's frequently the Enterprise's eyes. His later ocular implants gave him zooming telescopic vision and a more accurate approximation of traditional eyesight without the risk of brainwashing.
The VISOR was crucial to La Forge's life, but he was never useless without them. La Forge frequently discusses his congenital blindness with members of other species, many of whom offhandedly mention that Geordi wouldn't have been allowed to live if he'd been born to them. La Forge is a proud blind man, unwilling to be belittled or coddled for his disability. The technology of the utopian Star Trek future simultaneously accommodates those with different abilities and encourages them to exist. The VISOR is a simple piece of technology that adds so much to the sci-fi future of this franchise. Geordi La Forge is a model for disabled representation in science fiction.