When Geordi's VISOR (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement) was eventually replaced with cybernetic eyes, it was the realization of a near decade-long dream held by Star Trek: The Next Generation actor LeVar Burton. Geordi's new optical implants were introduced in Star Trek: First Contact, and the character has retained them all the way through Star Trek: Picard season 3. Famously, LeVar Burton grew tired of the VISOR quickly and was relieved to finally be free of it for the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies.
LeVar Burton wasn't a fan of wearing the bulky and restrictive VISOR device for his portrayal of Geordi. For nine years he dealt with headaches caused by the pressure on his temples. Not only did he have to contend with headaches, but Burton also had restricted peripheral vision and felt that the VISOR prop constrained him as an actor. Despite the Star Trek: The Next Generation finale revealing that Geordi's VISOR was eventually upgraded, Burton still had to wear it for Star Trek: Generations. However, he finally got his wish to remove the bulky prop in the next movie.
The History And Reason For Geordi’s VISOR
When conceiving Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gene Roddenberry wanted there to be a disabled character in a key role aboard the Enterprise-D. It was also Roddenberry's desire that the character's disability not define them. Deciding that the character would be blind, Roddenberry and the Star Trek: The Next Generation writers created the VISOR, which would be an aid to the Enterprise's helmsman, rather than an "improvement." Writer David Gerrold suggested the name Geordi La Forge, in tribute to the disabled Star Trek fan George La Forge, who had sadly died in 1975. Roddenberry approved of this tribute.
Geordi's VISOR may have occasionally been a security risk, having been hacked by both the Romulans and the Klingons, and the prop may have been an inconvenience to actor LeVar Burton, but it also had a positive real-world impact. In 1999, NASA engineer Paul Morgan used an ocular device to help him read, and it was named after LeVar Burton's famous Star Trek character. The Joint Optical Reflective Display, or JORDY for short, is still in use today, aiding partially sighted users to see and read.
How LeVar Burton Finally Got Rid Of Geordi’s VISOR
Although Geordi refused to have his blindness "cured" by a Q-enhanced Will Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1, episode 10, "Hide and Q," LeVar Burton was desperate to be rid of Geordi's augmentation. Aside from the discomfort of the prop pressing into his temples every working day for seven years, the VISOR also restricted Burton's peripheral vision, and he would often bump into the set, spotlights, and camera equipment. For the movie Star Trek: Generations, Burton had hoped to have the VISOR removed, especially after Geordi sported cybernetic eyes in the Star Trek: The Next Generation finale.
However, his lobbying was in vain, and the VISOR ended up playing a key role in the destruction of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Enterprise in the movie's climax when it was hacked by the Duras sisters. For the next movie, Star Trek: First Contact, a more comfortable workaround was finally established for Burton, in the form of contact lenses that would act as Geordi's new cybernetic eyes. Burton believed that the VISOR restricted his acting as his eyes were covered in every episode, and the cybernetic eyes removed this obstacle. In every subsequent appearance, Geordi has worn this augmentation and will do so again when Burton returns as the beloved Star Trek: The Next Generation character for Star Trek: Picard season 3.