Geordi's Visor

[Timo]

The Romulans used his neural pathways against him, but Tolian Soren used the Visor itself. He either hacked into it, or more likely successfully hid some kind of recording device & transmitter in it (Because what the Duras sisters saw wasn't Geordi's actual visual feed)

Which basically means Troi's hairdo would have been an equally severe threat to the ship's security...

the damn things were a pain & inconvenience that an integrated component wouldn't be

Was there any indication that the more compact tech would remove the pain? In "Farpoint", the problem was that he "uses his natural sensors in different ways". Which is obvious, as somehow the VISOR bypasses not just his useless eyes but also his useless optical nerves.

Either he is in pain for effectively having to watch through his ears or toes (or wherever those sockets on his temples ultimately lead in his brain), or then he is in pain because his eyes do weird things when he watches without them. A different VISOR or implant or even the installation of replicated real eyes wouldn't alter that - only Pulaski's nerve regeneration tech would.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Mister Spock]

After all the years of watching TNG, it's still unclear to me, does Geordi see the world as we see it, or in the way it was shown in 'The Minds Eye'.

I'm not sure it did. In Insurrection, when his eyesight comes back, he says that he's never seen a sunrise like how everyone else sees it.

 

[Mojochi]

Since Crusher & Pulaski suggest that other means of prosthesis can lessen the pain, I always just assumed that those temple docks were somehow the source of the problem, & perhaps they did something in his eye socket (Gross. lol) that offered a different path of well, less resistance

 

[Timo]

Since Crusher & Pulaski suggest that other means of prosthesis can lessen the pain

But they don't. Crusher offers painkillers or lobotomy in "Farpoint", being unable to address the root cause of the pain. Pulaski offers artificial or real eyes in "Loud as a Whisper", but only the nerve regeneration procedure (to be used in connection with the real eye replication) is said to eliminate the pain.

I always just assumed that those temple docks were somehow the source of the problem

Possibly. But even though they are gone with the introduction of the ST:FC implants, there's no evidence the pain would be gone, and it being gone would be inconsistent with what Pulaski says.

OTOH, using the implants and regenerating the nerves would probably also be possible; it's unknown if the regenerated nerves could handle signals more complex than those from natural eyes, so the VISOR superiority could be gone even though some Six Million Dollar Man functionality remains.

Yet it's only in ST:INS that the optic nerves regenerate - it's an explicit dialogue point there. So the pain should in theory still be there in ST:FC.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Sybok Was Wrong]

Ironic that they covered the eyes of the actor with the most expressive eyes.


Geordi never should have lost the visor in the movies. He looked terrible with those sci-fi contacts and lost what made him unique. Take away the visor and it you're left with a pretty bland character.

 

[Karzak]

Do you think it would have been detrimental to the show for them to have phased out the visor during the series run? Clearly it was always going to go down that road anyhow, what with it being used for mind control, & then being seminally responsible for the ship's destruction. It was obvious that when they return in the next film, & it's gone, that's the reason why

Would it have hurt to have worked through that on the show? Even by the time of Descent, Lore is planning something wretched with it, that I'm not even sure we found out about. The thing ended up being way more trouble than it was worth, given the alternatives, but it was put in for the aesthetic value. Was it truly necessary for that reason?

You take it out of the show and you also take out all the plot devices where it could be used.

In universe - yes. It was a gaping security flaw that was used against the ship and crew several times.

Real life - no.

+1

They toyed with the idea, mainly so the show would be able to show off Burton's expressive eyes. But the choice was, if I recall correctly, vetoed because as La Forge as a blind man living and functioning and being in the world as he was served as a role-model to people in real life who actually were blind. Also (at least in the first season) the show had that great joke -- "A blind man piloting the starship" -- and it was kind of a neat gimmick for the show.

I know the VISOR prop gave Burton headaches because they basically scrunched it on him, but it also opened several avenues for story possibilities and showed that in the 24th century, blindness was no more an obstacle for people than race, sexuality, or creed.

 

[Timo]

After all the years of watching TNG, it's still unclear to me, does Geordi see the world as we see it, or in the way it was shown in 'The Minds Eye'.

Actually, the feed we see in "Mind's Eye" is so different from what we originally saw in "Heart of Glory" that we might argue we're seeing

a) some sort of a "telemetry track" or "log" that the Romulans are recording, a narrow band that's easy on the Romulan eyes, or
b) a band narrowed by the fact that the VISOR is dedicating some of its resources to receiving the Romulan control signal.

Regarding a), do we know whether Vulcanoids see the same wavelengths as humans, or whether Spock or Sarek saw ultraviolet or infrared or failed to comprehend indigo..?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[The Old Mixer]

They toyed with the idea, mainly so the show would be able to show off Burton's expressive eyes. But the choice was, if I recall correctly, vetoed because as La Forge as a blind man living and functioning and being in the world as he was served as a role-model to people in real life who actually were blind.

But those blind people he was a role model to weren't wearing hair barrettes on their faces...nor could they see the barrette on Burton's....

 

[Lance]

So maybe that's what Geordi's point was, that the VISOR provides him with more functionality than the Season 2 era implants. One might suggest that the eventual implants he does get are better than the Season 2 equiavalent of the technology, or maybe (like myself) he was just finally willing to trade off some of the added functionality of his 'glasses' in exchange for the convenience of not having to wear them anymore.

That's exactly how I look at it. He didn't think the downgrade was worth it with the season 2 tech, but mostly likely it improved by the time of ST:FC. Whether or not you want to say the loss of the ship was the catalyst, the damn things were a pain & inconvenience that an integrated component wouldn't be. In my fanboydom, I like to pretend that they used Data's eye tech to make the best damn optical implant of them all, with aspects of the visor, & Data's eye all being compatible tech

I like that idea.

 

[Timo]

It might be argued that Data's eye tech isn't particularly advanced. He is never credited with superhuman eyesight, after all. Superhuman strength and computing speed, yes. Fairly good hearing, perhaps. But he needs flashlights and shades where a human does, and supposedly would also need binoculars; LaForge's implants do better in the latter aspect at least!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Mister Spock]

The eBook The Insolence of Office, set after Generations, has Geordi's visor declared a security risk and he is given the option of replacing it with occular implants or being transferred to a less sensitive posting.

 

[Syd Shanshala]

I'm sorry but I haven't seen much of next gen. Wondering when is the episode we see him without the visor for the first time? Or when is the story of how he got his eyes fixed relevealed?

 

[Timo]

The pilot episode already shows LeVar Burton wearing the white contacts over his eyes while LaForge is having his VISOR attended to by Dr Crusher.

LaForge removes the VISOR in many subsequent episodes and movies. In two of those, his eyes have healed: in "Hide and Q", Riker's Q powers heal them, and in ST:Insurrection, the magic of the Ba'ku planet does.

Of course, the Q magic is godlike, so the red interfaces at the temples are gone in an instant, too. And then reappear when LaForge turns down the offer.

But the planet magic is weirder: at that point, LaForge was already wearing artificial eyes instead of the VISOR, so what on Earth happened to those bits of machinery? We are apparently supposed to think the machines were thin as contact lenses, retaining LaForge's biological eyes beneath; we don't know what else about LaForge's body was repaired at the switch from VISOR to the contact lenses. Did he finally get the nerve regeneration job, too? And if he did, why did he get those contact lenses rather than real eyes?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Greysun]

They already had developed a working imaging sensor/brain interface all the way back in Is There In Truth No Beauty? Miranda didn't have to clamp a banana clip to her face and she didn't appear to suffer physical pain from using her device. I always thought that the VISOR should have been more comfortable and advanced for Geordi given the time between TOS and Next Gen. The episode Interface seemed to indicate that he could link with other devices to see (as long as he obeyed the safety instructions), so it's odd that they didn't replace the VISOR with something better during the series. At least they finally developed eyeball-sized tech for him to use when they got to the movies.

 

[Nakita Akita]

Do you think it would have been detrimental to the show for them to have phased out the visor during the series run? Clearly it was always going to go down that road anyhow, what with it being used for mind control, & then being seminally responsible for the ship's destruction. It was obvious that when they return in the next film, & it's gone, that's the reason why

Would it have hurt to have worked through that on the show? Even by the time of Descent, Lore is planning something wretched with it, that I'm not even sure we found out about. The thing ended up being way more trouble than it was worth, given the alternatives, but it was put in for the aesthetic value. Was it truly necessary for that reason?

Come on, so they should have taken out the holodecks? Or the transporters? Or the Spanner tool? (The thing Data stabbed Troi with) or Data? He caused a lot of problems too!

 

[Timo]

As already mentioned, "eyeball-sized tech" was there from the very beginning. So were replacement human eyes. LaForge turned them all down because they were so grossly inferior to his superhuman VISOR. They supposedly still would have been superior to standard human eyes, tho - LaForge really loved his edge.

And supposedly lost it with those high tech contact lenses which aren't credited with much beyond zoom. I wonder why he chose to have those?

Detmer isn't after superhuman vision. Nor did she get born with ruined optical nerves. She just wants to be not blind for losing an eye, and isn't.

Jones isn't a good likeness to LaForge, either. If anything, she's the best off of all three, with superhuman abilities and a replacement vision system that doesn't hurt in any fashion.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Qonundrum]

Ironic that they covered the eyes of the actor with the most expressive eyes.

Geordi never should have lost the VISOR in the movies, especially as the excuse (static shield frequency) became a nonissue after the Borg necessitating constant frequency shift and upending everyone's cordless phone calls and wireless keyboards that thankfully no longer existed in the 24th century. He looked terrible with those sci-fi contacts and lost what made him unique. Take away the visor and it you're left with a pretty bland character.

Ditto.

The few times in TNG when we see his real eyes add that much more specialness to those scenes. Especially in season 1 when Q-Riker gives him real eyesight, it's a phenomenal scene alone but LeVar's expression hits a home run around the sun and back. Conversely, "Insurrection" actually managed to lose a bit of the awe and wonder because of his contact lenses gizmo was more analogous to the audience to contact lenses compared to a more visually tangible accessory like the VISOR.

Geordi had his moments - he built large scale model ships, did Holmes mysteries with Data and Pulaski (it was better than Sherlock) while teaching him human nature (he and Data were easily the best double act on the show IMHO), couldn't get a date and that's more exciting to watch than him succeeding because the rest of us can actually relate to him more as a result... and got to like shy misfits/abused-as-kids types like Barclay - again, shows us another aspect to like. IMHO, of course.

 

[Nakita Akita]

Ditto.

The few times in TNG when we see his real eyes add that much more specialness to those scenes. Especially in season 1 when Q-Riker gives him real eyesight, it's a phenomenal scene alone but LeVar's expression hits a home run around the sun and back. Conversely, "Insurrection" actually managed to lose a bit of the awe and wonder because of his contact lenses gizmo was more analogous to the audience to contact lenses compared to a more visually tangible accessory like the VISOR.

Geordi had his moments - he built large scale model ships, did Holmes mysteries with Data and Pulaski (it was better than Sherlock) while teaching him human nature (he and Data were easily the best double act on the show IMHO), couldn't get a date and that's more exciting to watch than him succeeding because the rest of us can actually relate to him more as a result... and got to like shy misfits/abused-as-kids types like Barclay - again, shows us another aspect to like. IMHO, of course.

Very true.
I watched the show before and thought how I would be the person mopping the holodecks because all of the Starfleet people knew Everything about everything and all graduated top of the class. All of them. No bottom of the class existed.
Geordi made it seem as though everyone wasn't perfect.

 

[Mojochi]

As already mentioned, "eyeball-sized tech" was there from the very beginning. So were replacement human eyes. LaForge turned them all down because they were so grossly inferior to his superhuman VISOR. They supposedly still would have been superior to standard human eyes, tho - LaForge really loved his edge.

And supposedly lost it with those high tech contact lenses which aren't credited with much beyond zoom. I wonder why he chose to have those?

I assumed it had a lot to do with having had his VISOR used against him twice, & it being the linchpin in the downfall of the ENT-D. After that is when we see the implants. I never suspected those were lesser than his visor though. Where do you get that from? The Memory Alpha article suggests that they have similar function, but also have a normal human eye visual feed as well, that the VISOR didn't have. I actually like to think Data's Soong type eyes might have been used to design Geordi's implants, as Data has a normal eye function with his. Who knows, maybe by the time of Insurrection, Geordi & Data have the same model eyes as one another. The technology is there

 

[Timo]

I assumed it had a lot to do with having had his VISOR used against him twice, & it being the linchpin in the downfall of the ENT-D. After that is when we see the implants.

Yet why would Data's best friend agree to being surgically weakened when Data himself, the greatest menace to Starfleet after Jean-Locutus Picard, has never volunteered to lobotomy?

Everybody in the main cast has been compromised in his or her turn. Starfleet's only hope is finding ways to cope with the fact that its personnel will be co-opted, and those ways shouldn't include firing or mutilating said personnel.

I never suspected those were lesser than his visor though. Where do you get that from?

From our literal insight into the new device in ST:INS, as contrasted to our literal insight into the VISOR. The contacts just have the zoom, plus some easily comprehensible HUD-style data; if the audience can comprehend it, then it must be less extensive and complex than what the VISOR had to offer.

The Memory Alpha article suggests that they have similar function, but also have a normal human eye visual feed as well, that the VISOR didn't have.

Which of course is false, because only when the contacts come off does LaForge admit to seeing a sunset like humans do.

I actually like to think Data's Soong type eyes might have been used to design Geordi's implants, as Data has a normal eye function with his. Who knows, maybe by the time of Insurrection, Geordi & Data have the same model eyes as one another. The technology is there

It was always there in TNG, from the very first hour on, and I gather Soong got it off the shelf. Or then Soong invented that one, along with positronics, holodecks and the cure for cancer, and at some point Starfleet copied Data's eyes, which is why Crusher in "Encounter at Farpoint" has artificial eyes to offer to LaForge, who turns them down because they aren't supereyes (and won't help with his pain anyway).

Timo Saloniemi