Geordi La Forge
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (ˈdʒɔrdi ləˈfɔrdʒ) is a regular character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
and its feature films, played by LeVar Burton
. He served as helmsman
of the USS Enterprise-D
in the first season, then occupied the role of the chief engineer for the rest of the series and in the TNG-era films.
La Forge is naturally blind so one of his trademarks in the series is wearing a VISOR, which is later replaced by ocular prosthetic
implants in the last three films.
was a serious contender for the role and was almost picked. Russ eventually was cast into Star Trek: Voyager as Tuvok
.
LeVar Burton auditioned for the role in 1986. He had previously appeared in Roots
and other major network shows. He stated that "years ago I was doing a TV movie called Emergency Room and it was a fairly miserable experience. But there was a producer on that show, a man named Bob Justman.... six, seven years later, I get this call from Bob Justman and he’s working at Paramount on this new Star Trek series and he said I remember your love of the show, we’ve got this character, would you be interested in coming in and seeing us? And I said is Gene involved? He said he is. And I said I’ll be right there." Roddenberry
was very pleased with Burton at his very first audition.
Burton also commented that he was anxious about his role, because he feared that ST:TNG was going to flop: "At the beginning, you know, there was a lot of conversation in the press at what a bad idea this was [but] I thought that since Gene was involved we had a real good shot of making a good show that would carry on in that tradition of Star Trek."
Throughout the series, Burton was equipped with Geordi La Forge's trademark VISOR, which he found extremely unpleasant to wear: "It’s pretty much a living hell... 85 to 90 per cent of my vision is taken away when the VISOR goes on... I bumped into everything the first season - Light stands, overhead microphones, cables at my feet - I tripped over it all... So it’s a sort of conundrum - the blind man, who puts on the VISOR and sees much more than everyone else around him, when the actor actually does that he’s turned into a blind person. Then there was the pain. In the second season, we re-designed the VISOR and made it heavier and the way we actually affixed it was that we screwed it, we literally screwed it into my head and so there were screws that we would turn and there were flanges on the inside that would press into my temples and so after fifteen or twenty minutes of that I got headaches. So I had a daily headache for about six years. Which was also no fun."
During the series, Burton's character was Chief Engineering Officer, and thus was often portrayed repairing machines or discovering new scientific phenomena. Burton commented how hard it sometimes was to straight-facedly deliver the Treknobabble
used by La Forge in these scenes: "Technobabble brings with it its own challenge... I’m not an engineer, I just played one on TV. The methodology that I found most successful was to really spit it out as fast as I possibly could. Giving the illusion that I knew what I was talking about when, in fact, I really didn’t."
Asked about his favorite scenes, Burton answered that he especially liked holodeck
adventures: "The Holmes
and Watson episodes for Data and Geordi, the Robin Hood
episode, you know, those were a lot of fun for us. I think the holodeck was a very cool concept, you know. You can create a three dimensional reality ... I mean, how cool is that?"
Finally, Burton has stated how much he profited from ST:TNG. He said: "When I got married my best man was Brent (Spiner
, who portrayed the ST:TNG character Lieutenant Commander Data) and my groomsmen were Michael (Dorn
, Lieutenant Worf) and Jonathan (Frakes
, Commander Riker) and Patrick (Stewart
, Captain Picard). No-matter what, we will always be family to each other. I mean in every respect. There have been times when, there have been feuds within the family, when it hasn’t been all hugs and kisses. But we have stuck together."
created the character in honour of George La Forge, a quadriplegic fan
of the original Star Trek series
who died in 1975.
In the series, we learn that Geordi was born blind
and wears a VISOR (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement)
, an arc-shaped prosthetic
attached at the temples that provides him with vision
. Interfacing
directly with his brain
, the device enables him to "see" much of the electromagnetic spectrum
– radio waves
, infrared
, ultraviolet
, but not normal light
perception, though it does allow Geordi to see the visible light section of the EM spectrum.
La Forge was born February 16, 2335 in the African Confederation on Earth
to Silva La Forge (a Starfleet command track officer and eventual Captain of the USS Hera NCC-62006 (TNG: "Interface") and Edward M. La Forge (a Starfleet exozoologist) (TNG
: "Interface"). He has also mentioned having a sister. He attended Zefram Cochrane High School (Star Trek: First Contact
) and then Starfleet Academy
from 2353 to 2357 (TNG: "Conundrum"). In 2357, he was assigned as an ensign aboard the USS Victory under Captain Zimbata (TNG: "Elementary, Dear Data"). After his first cruise, he was transferred to the USS Hood serving with then Lt. Commander William Riker
for her 2361-64 cruise, during which he was promoted to lieutenant junior grade (TNG: "Conundrum").
La Forge once impressed Captain Jean-Luc Picard
by staying up all night to fix a shuttle craft that Picard mentioned had a superficial problem. Upon learning this, Picard decided he wanted Geordi on his next command ("TNG": "The Next Phase") which ended up being the Enterprise-D where Geordi was assigned to him as a helmsman. At the beginning of Season 2, he was promoted to Lieutenant and named Chief Engineer; in Season 3, he rose to Lieutenant Commander, a rank he held until his promotion to Commander at the end of Star Trek: Nemesis
.
In 2372, Geordi is transferred to the new Sovereign class starship
Enterprise-E. When the ship travels back in time to the 21st century, he works alongside Dr. Zefram Cochrane
and helps him successfully launch Earth's first warp-capable vessel and achieve first contact
with the Vulcans
(Star Trek: First Contact
).
During the Ba'ku incident, La Forge began to experience pain in his eyes after sojourning on the planet. Doctor Crusher removes his ocular implants to discover that his optic nerve
s have regenerated and he has gained normal sight. This effect is caused by the healing properties of the Ba'ku ring system and, at the time, it is speculated that the effect will fade after La Forge leaves Ba'ku (Star Trek: Insurrection
). This diagnosis proved correct; La Forge again wears the implants in Star Trek Nemesis.
In the alternate 2390 future in Star Trek: Voyager
s "Timeless", La Forge is a captain and the commanding officer
of the USS Challenger
, doing his best to stop Harry Kim
and Chakotay
from altering the time line. He had micro-implants in his eyes, allowing him to see without wearing his visor. However, Kim and Chakotay succeed in their mission, erasing the alternate time line.
In the hologram alternate history depicted in Future Imperfect, La Forge had cloned eye implants and had no need of his visor.
In the Star Trek
fictional universe
, a VISOR is a device used by the blind
to artificially provide them with a sense of sight. The device scans the electromagnetic spectrum
, creating visual
input, and transmits it into the brain
of the wearer via the optic nerve
s. It is a thin, curved device, with the sensor
s on the convex side, that covers the eyes
and attaches at small input jacks
implanted in the temples
. The only VISOR seen on screen was used by Geordi La Forge, who was blind from birth. VISOR stands for "Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement", though the complete term never appeared in the series, only in novelizations and other written spin-offs.
The VISOR also caused him persistent pain, which could not be treated without interfering with the device. It can be presumed that use of a VISOR is very rare, since no other characters in the franchise have appeared with a similar enhancement, and both high-ranking doctors who served on the ship were unfamiliar with the device.
The device does not reproduce normal human vision, but does allow the character to "see" energy phenomena invisible to the naked human eye
, as well as allowing him to view things at infrared
and at microscopic levels. This also allowed the character to see human vital signs such as heart rate and temperature, giving him the ability to monitor moods and even detect lies. In the TNG episode "Heart of Glory", Captain Picard keys the main viewer to Geordi's visor allowing him to see the way he does. Seeing all the overlapping and different wavelengths was highly confusing to the Captain, prompting him to ask Geordi how he was able to differentiate between them all. Geordi's response made the comparison of child hearing many different sounds at once and eventually being able to pick out what they needed; it is a learned talent. The character's special visual abilities were responsible, at least in part, for his unusually rapid advancement in rank seeing as how his enhanced eyesight was a kind of built-in diagnostic tool allowing him to sidestep certain mechanical sensory tools.
Twice in the series, Geordi refused to be granted natural vision, first by Commander Riker
who had been given extraordinary amounts of power by Q
and later by Doctor Katherine Pulaski
. Geordi refused the gift of natural eyesight in the first instance because it would have come at the cost of Riker's humanity.
Sometime between 2371 and 2373, before the time of the film Star Trek: First Contact
, the VISOR was replaced by prosthetic
implants, performing not only the same functions, but according to Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki, the new implants have even more enhanced functions. On film, they are depicted using a combination of cosmetic contact lens
es and CGI
.
magazine reported on research as to whether a device similar to a VISOR can actually be created for blind or visually impaired people. Partial sight has been successfully restored to blind rat
s by installing an implant behind the retina
.
Several types of visual prosthesis
are in development or trials in humans, and one device has been approved for sale in the European market. , 16 blind people worldwide have had sight partially restored in a procedure where electrodes implanted in their brains take impulses from a camera to allow patients to see lights and outlines of objects.
LeVar Burton, who played the character of Geordi La Forge, disliked the VISOR prop because it restricted his peripheral vision – albeit less than its prototypes – and the constant pressure of the prop's arms on his temples caused headaches. The original prop was created from a Honda automobile air filter.
"really qualify as nerds, and neither of them compares with the extraordinary geekiness of the teenaged Wesley Crusher
." According to Dr. Ron Eglash, then, the construction of the La Forge character fails by the standards of Afrofuturism
.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
and its feature films, played by LeVar Burton
LeVar Burton
Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. , professionally known as LeVar Burton, is an American actor, director, producer and author who first came to prominence portraying Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley...
. He served as helmsman
Helmsman
A helmsman is a person who steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, or other type of maritime vessel. On small vessels, particularly privately-owned noncommercial vessels, the functions of skipper and helmsman may be combined in one person. On larger vessels, there is a separate officer of the watch,...
of the USS Enterprise-D
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
in the first season, then occupied the role of the chief engineer for the rest of the series and in the TNG-era films.
La Forge is naturally blind so one of his trademarks in the series is wearing a VISOR, which is later replaced by ocular prosthetic
Prosthesis
In medicine, a prosthesis, prosthetic, or prosthetic limb is an artificial device extension that replaces a missing body part. It is part of the field of biomechatronics, the science of using mechanical devices with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control...
implants in the last three films.
Casting
Previous to LeVar Burton being cast as Geordi La Forge, Tim RussTim Russ
Timothy Darrell "Tim" Russ is an American actor, film director, screenwriter and musician. He is known for his roles on Star Trek: Voyager, as Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, Samantha Who?, as Frank, and on the Nickelodeon live-action teen sitcom iCarly, as Principal Franklin, a recurring...
was a serious contender for the role and was almost picked. Russ eventually was cast into Star Trek: Voyager as Tuvok
Tuvok
Tuvok is one of the main characters on the television series Star Trek: Voyager. Tuvok is a Vulcan who serves as the ship's chief of security and its chief tactical officer. Tim Russ portrayed Tuvok throughout the show's run, from 1995 to 2001....
.
LeVar Burton auditioned for the role in 1986. He had previously appeared in Roots
Roots (TV miniseries)
Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's fictional novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Roots received 36 Emmy Award nominations, winning nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented Nielsen ratings with the finale still...
and other major network shows. He stated that "years ago I was doing a TV movie called Emergency Room and it was a fairly miserable experience. But there was a producer on that show, a man named Bob Justman.... six, seven years later, I get this call from Bob Justman and he’s working at Paramount on this new Star Trek series and he said I remember your love of the show, we’ve got this character, would you be interested in coming in and seeing us? And I said is Gene involved? He said he is. And I said I’ll be right there." Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
was very pleased with Burton at his very first audition.
Burton also commented that he was anxious about his role, because he feared that ST:TNG was going to flop: "At the beginning, you know, there was a lot of conversation in the press at what a bad idea this was [but] I thought that since Gene was involved we had a real good shot of making a good show that would carry on in that tradition of Star Trek."
Throughout the series, Burton was equipped with Geordi La Forge's trademark VISOR, which he found extremely unpleasant to wear: "It’s pretty much a living hell... 85 to 90 per cent of my vision is taken away when the VISOR goes on... I bumped into everything the first season - Light stands, overhead microphones, cables at my feet - I tripped over it all... So it’s a sort of conundrum - the blind man, who puts on the VISOR and sees much more than everyone else around him, when the actor actually does that he’s turned into a blind person. Then there was the pain. In the second season, we re-designed the VISOR and made it heavier and the way we actually affixed it was that we screwed it, we literally screwed it into my head and so there were screws that we would turn and there were flanges on the inside that would press into my temples and so after fifteen or twenty minutes of that I got headaches. So I had a daily headache for about six years. Which was also no fun."
During the series, Burton's character was Chief Engineering Officer, and thus was often portrayed repairing machines or discovering new scientific phenomena. Burton commented how hard it sometimes was to straight-facedly deliver the Treknobabble
Treknobabble
Treknobabble is a portmanteau of "Star Trek" and "technobabble". It is used humorously by fans of the various Star Trek television series, and disparagingly by its critics, to describe the infamous amount of pseudoscientific gibberish packed into many episodes.Writers on The Next Generation and...
used by La Forge in these scenes: "Technobabble brings with it its own challenge... I’m not an engineer, I just played one on TV. The methodology that I found most successful was to really spit it out as fast as I possibly could. Giving the illusion that I knew what I was talking about when, in fact, I really didn’t."
Asked about his favorite scenes, Burton answered that he especially liked holodeck
Holodeck
A holodeck, in the fictional Star Trek universe, is a simulated reality facility located on starships and starbases. The first use of a "holodeck" by that name in the Star Trek universe was in the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Encounter at Farpoint", although a conceptually...
adventures: "The Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
and Watson episodes for Data and Geordi, the Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
episode, you know, those were a lot of fun for us. I think the holodeck was a very cool concept, you know. You can create a three dimensional reality ... I mean, how cool is that?"
Finally, Burton has stated how much he profited from ST:TNG. He said: "When I got married my best man was Brent (Spiner
Brent Spiner
Brent Jay Spiner is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of the android Lieutenant Commander Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films. His portrayal of Data in Star Trek: First Contact and of Dr...
, who portrayed the ST:TNG character Lieutenant Commander Data) and my groomsmen were Michael (Dorn
Michael Dorn
Michael Dorn is an American actor, and voice artist who is best known for his role as the Klingon Worf from the Star Trek franchise.-Early life and career:...
, Lieutenant Worf) and Jonathan (Frakes
Jonathan Frakes
Jonathan Scott Frakes is an American actor, author and director best known for his role as Commander William T. Riker in the Star Trek franchise, as well as for his tenure as host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction ....
, Commander Riker) and Patrick (Stewart
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...
, Captain Picard). No-matter what, we will always be family to each other. I mean in every respect. There have been times when, there have been feuds within the family, when it hasn’t been all hugs and kisses. But we have stuck together."
Character back story
Gene RoddenberryGene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
created the character in honour of George La Forge, a quadriplegic fan
Trekkie
A Trekkie or Trekker is a fan of the Star Trek franchise, or of specific television series or films within that franchise.-History:In 1967, science fiction editor Arthur W...
of the original Star Trek series
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
who died in 1975.
In the series, we learn that Geordi was born blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
and wears a VISOR (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement)
Visor
A visor is a surface that protects the eyes, such as shading them from the sun or other bright light or protecting them from objects....
, an arc-shaped prosthetic
Prosthesis
In medicine, a prosthesis, prosthetic, or prosthetic limb is an artificial device extension that replaces a missing body part. It is part of the field of biomechatronics, the science of using mechanical devices with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control...
attached at the temples that provides him with vision
Visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision...
. Interfacing
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
directly with his brain
Human brain
The human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times larger than the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size. Estimates for the number of neurons in the human brain range from 80 to 120 billion...
, the device enables him to "see" much of the electromagnetic spectrum
Electromagnetic spectrum
The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object....
– radio waves
Radio waves
Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum longer than infrared light. Radio waves have frequencies from 300 GHz to as low as 3 kHz, and corresponding wavelengths from 1 millimeter to 100 kilometers. Like all other electromagnetic waves,...
, infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
, ultraviolet
Ultraviolet
Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...
, but not normal light
Light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...
perception, though it does allow Geordi to see the visible light section of the EM spectrum.
La Forge was born February 16, 2335 in the African Confederation on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
to Silva La Forge (a Starfleet command track officer and eventual Captain of the USS Hera NCC-62006 (TNG: "Interface") and Edward M. La Forge (a Starfleet exozoologist) (TNG
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
: "Interface"). He has also mentioned having a sister. He attended Zefram Cochrane High School (Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise, released in November 1996, by Paramount Pictures. First Contact is the first film in the franchise to feature no cast members from the original Star Trek television series of the 1960s...
) and then Starfleet Academy
Starfleet Academy
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet Academy is where the future's recruits to Starfleet will be trained. It was created in the year 2161, when the United Federation of Planets was founded...
from 2353 to 2357 (TNG: "Conundrum"). In 2357, he was assigned as an ensign aboard the USS Victory under Captain Zimbata (TNG: "Elementary, Dear Data"). After his first cruise, he was transferred to the USS Hood serving with then Lt. Commander William Riker
William Riker
William Thomas Riker, played by Jonathan Frakes, is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe primarily appearing as a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
for her 2361-64 cruise, during which he was promoted to lieutenant junior grade (TNG: "Conundrum").
La Forge once impressed Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jean-Luc Picard
Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
by staying up all night to fix a shuttle craft that Picard mentioned had a superficial problem. Upon learning this, Picard decided he wanted Geordi on his next command ("TNG": "The Next Phase") which ended up being the Enterprise-D where Geordi was assigned to him as a helmsman. At the beginning of Season 2, he was promoted to Lieutenant and named Chief Engineer; in Season 3, he rose to Lieutenant Commander, a rank he held until his promotion to Commander at the end of Star Trek: Nemesis
Star Trek: Nemesis
Star Trek Nemesis is a 2002 science fiction film directed by Stuart Baird, written by John Logan , and with music composed by Jerry Goldsmith. It is the tenth feature film in the Star Trek franchise, and the fourth and final film to star the cast from the television series Star Trek: The Next...
.
In 2372, Geordi is transferred to the new Sovereign class starship
Sovereign class starship
The Sovereign class is a class of Starfleet starship in the fictional Star Trek science fiction franchise. The Sovereign-class USS Enterprise-E was designed by Herman Zimmerman and illustrator John Eaves for Star Trek: First Contact...
Enterprise-E. When the ship travels back in time to the 21st century, he works alongside Dr. Zefram Cochrane
Zefram Cochrane
Zefram Cochrane is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. Created by writer Gene L. Coon, the character first appeared in the 1967 Star Trek episode "Metamorphosis", in which he was played by Glenn Corbett. James Cromwell later played Cochrane in the 1996 feature film Star Trek: First...
and helps him successfully launch Earth's first warp-capable vessel and achieve first contact
First contact (science fiction)
First contact is a common science fiction theme about the first meeting between humans and extraterrestrial life, or of any sentient race's first encounter with another one....
with the Vulcans
Vulcan (Star Trek)
Vulcans, or sometimes Vulcanians, are an extraterrestrial humanoid species in the Star Trek universe who evolved on the planet Vulcan, and are noted for their attempt to live by reason and logic with no interference from emotion. They were the first extraterrestrial species in the Star Trek...
(Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise, released in November 1996, by Paramount Pictures. First Contact is the first film in the franchise to feature no cast members from the original Star Trek television series of the 1960s...
).
During the Ba'ku incident, La Forge began to experience pain in his eyes after sojourning on the planet. Doctor Crusher removes his ocular implants to discover that his optic nerve
Optic nerve
The optic nerve, also called cranial nerve 2, transmits visual information from the retina to the brain. Derived from the embryonic retinal ganglion cell, a diverticulum located in the diencephalon, the optic nerve doesn't regenerate after transection.-Anatomy:The optic nerve is the second of...
s have regenerated and he has gained normal sight. This effect is caused by the healing properties of the Ba'ku ring system and, at the time, it is speculated that the effect will fade after La Forge leaves Ba'ku (Star Trek: Insurrection
Star Trek: Insurrection
Star Trek: Insurrection is a 1998 American science fiction film directed by Jonathan Frakes, written by Michael Piller , and with music composed by Jerry Goldsmith. It is the ninth film in the Star Trek franchise, and the third to feature the cast from the television series Star Trek: The Next...
). This diagnosis proved correct; La Forge again wears the implants in Star Trek Nemesis.
Alternate time lines
In the alternate timeline of TNG series finale "All Good Things...", La Forge has, by 2395, married Leah Brahms and had three children (Alandra, Brett, and Sydney) with her. He had left Starfleet and became a novelist. However, these events may never happen because of the divergence of the time line at the episode's end.In the alternate 2390 future in Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
s "Timeless", La Forge is a captain and the commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
of the USS Challenger
USS Challenger
USS Challenger may refer to:*The USS Challenger , an early-20th century US Navy cargo ship*The USS Challenger , a fictional starship from the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Timeless"...
, doing his best to stop Harry Kim
Harry Kim (Star Trek)
Ensign Harry S. L. Kim, played by Garrett Wang, is a character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. He serves as the USS Voyagers operations officer.-Depiction:...
and Chakotay
Chakotay
Chakotay , played by Robert Beltran, is a character in Star Trek: Voyager. He is the First Officer of the USS Voyager.-Character biography:...
from altering the time line. He had micro-implants in his eyes, allowing him to see without wearing his visor. However, Kim and Chakotay succeed in their mission, erasing the alternate time line.
In the hologram alternate history depicted in Future Imperfect, La Forge had cloned eye implants and had no need of his visor.
VISOR
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
fictional universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
, a VISOR is a device used by the blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
to artificially provide them with a sense of sight. The device scans the electromagnetic spectrum
Electromagnetic spectrum
The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object....
, creating visual
Visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision...
input, and transmits it into the brain
Human brain
The human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times larger than the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size. Estimates for the number of neurons in the human brain range from 80 to 120 billion...
of the wearer via the optic nerve
Optic nerve
The optic nerve, also called cranial nerve 2, transmits visual information from the retina to the brain. Derived from the embryonic retinal ganglion cell, a diverticulum located in the diencephalon, the optic nerve doesn't regenerate after transection.-Anatomy:The optic nerve is the second of...
s. It is a thin, curved device, with the sensor
Sensor
A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument. For example, a mercury-in-glass thermometer converts the measured temperature into expansion and contraction of a liquid which can be read on a calibrated...
s on the convex side, that covers the eyes
Human eye
The human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...
and attaches at small input jacks
Jack (connector)
In electronics and electrical assemblies, the term jack commonly refers to a surface-mounted connector, often, but not always, with the female electrical contact or socket, and is the "more fixed" connector of a connector pair...
implanted in the temples
Temple (anatomy)
Temple indicates the side of the head behind the eyes. The bone beneath is the temporal bone as well as part of the sphenoid bone.-Anatomy:Cladists classify land vertebrates based on the presence of an upper hole, a lower hole, both, or neither in the cover of dermal bone which formerly covered the...
. The only VISOR seen on screen was used by Geordi La Forge, who was blind from birth. VISOR stands for "Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement", though the complete term never appeared in the series, only in novelizations and other written spin-offs.
The VISOR also caused him persistent pain, which could not be treated without interfering with the device. It can be presumed that use of a VISOR is very rare, since no other characters in the franchise have appeared with a similar enhancement, and both high-ranking doctors who served on the ship were unfamiliar with the device.
The device does not reproduce normal human vision, but does allow the character to "see" energy phenomena invisible to the naked human eye
Human eye
The human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...
, as well as allowing him to view things at infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
and at microscopic levels. This also allowed the character to see human vital signs such as heart rate and temperature, giving him the ability to monitor moods and even detect lies. In the TNG episode "Heart of Glory", Captain Picard keys the main viewer to Geordi's visor allowing him to see the way he does. Seeing all the overlapping and different wavelengths was highly confusing to the Captain, prompting him to ask Geordi how he was able to differentiate between them all. Geordi's response made the comparison of child hearing many different sounds at once and eventually being able to pick out what they needed; it is a learned talent. The character's special visual abilities were responsible, at least in part, for his unusually rapid advancement in rank seeing as how his enhanced eyesight was a kind of built-in diagnostic tool allowing him to sidestep certain mechanical sensory tools.
Twice in the series, Geordi refused to be granted natural vision, first by Commander Riker
William Riker
William Thomas Riker, played by Jonathan Frakes, is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe primarily appearing as a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
who had been given extraordinary amounts of power by Q
Q (Star Trek)
Q is a fictional character who appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, as well as in related products. In all of these programs, he is played by John de Lancie....
and later by Doctor Katherine Pulaski
Katherine Pulaski
Commander Katherine Pulaski, MD; played by Diana Muldaur, is the replacement chief medical officer for Dr. Beverly Crusher during the second season of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.-Overview:...
. Geordi refused the gift of natural eyesight in the first instance because it would have come at the cost of Riker's humanity.
Sometime between 2371 and 2373, before the time of the film Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise, released in November 1996, by Paramount Pictures. First Contact is the first film in the franchise to feature no cast members from the original Star Trek television series of the 1960s...
, the VISOR was replaced by prosthetic
Prosthesis
In medicine, a prosthesis, prosthetic, or prosthetic limb is an artificial device extension that replaces a missing body part. It is part of the field of biomechatronics, the science of using mechanical devices with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control...
implants, performing not only the same functions, but according to Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki, the new implants have even more enhanced functions. On film, they are depicted using a combination of cosmetic contact lens
Contact lens
A contact lens, or simply contact, is a lens placed on the eye. They are considered medical devices and can be worn to correct vision, for cosmetic or therapeutic reasons. In 2004, it was estimated that 125 million people use contact lenses worldwide, including 28 to 38 million in the United...
es and CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
.
Reality
New ScientistNew Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
magazine reported on research as to whether a device similar to a VISOR can actually be created for blind or visually impaired people. Partial sight has been successfully restored to blind rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s by installing an implant behind the retina
Retina
The vertebrate retina is a light-sensitive tissue lining the inner surface of the eye. The optics of the eye create an image of the visual world on the retina, which serves much the same function as the film in a camera. Light striking the retina initiates a cascade of chemical and electrical...
.
Several types of visual prosthesis
Visual prosthesis
For the non-functional prosthesis or glass eye see Ocular prosthesis and Craniofacial prosthesis.A visual prosthesis, often referred to as a bionic eye, is an experimental visual device intended to restore functional vision in those suffering from partial or total blindness...
are in development or trials in humans, and one device has been approved for sale in the European market. , 16 blind people worldwide have had sight partially restored in a procedure where electrodes implanted in their brains take impulses from a camera to allow patients to see lights and outlines of objects.
LeVar Burton, who played the character of Geordi La Forge, disliked the VISOR prop because it restricted his peripheral vision – albeit less than its prototypes – and the constant pressure of the prop's arms on his temples caused headaches. The original prop was created from a Honda automobile air filter.
Critical and fan reception
Critics and fans have responded favorably to the character. Burton himself has complained on DVD featurettes about the lack of romantic interests for his character. At least one scholar, however, decries that out of seven principal black characters across the Star Trek series, only La Forge and TuvokTuvok
Tuvok is one of the main characters on the television series Star Trek: Voyager. Tuvok is a Vulcan who serves as the ship's chief of security and its chief tactical officer. Tim Russ portrayed Tuvok throughout the show's run, from 1995 to 2001....
"really qualify as nerds, and neither of them compares with the extraordinary geekiness of the teenaged Wesley Crusher
Wesley Crusher
Wesley Crusher is a character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. He is Beverly Crusher's son and is portrayed by actor Wil Wheaton, the character was a regular for the first four seasons. Afterwards, the character appeared sporadically. The character also appeared briefly in...
." According to Dr. Ron Eglash, then, the construction of the La Forge character fails by the standards of Afrofuturism
Afrofuturism
Afrofuturism is an emergent literary and cultural aesthetic that combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and magic realism with non-Western cosmologies in order to critique not only the present-day dilemmas of people of color, but also to revise,...
.
External links
- Character biography at the official Star Trek website
- LeVar Burton on Twitter
- LeVar Burton Home Page