VISOR
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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 nerves. It is a thin, curved device, with the sensors 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. The character's special visual abilities were responsible, at least in part, for his unusually rapid advancement in rank. Twice in the series, Geordi refused to be granted natural vision, first by Q and later by Doctor Katherine Pulaski. Sometime between 2371 and 2373, before the time of the film Star Trek: First Contact the VISOR was replaced by prosthetic implants, performing the same functions, and depicted using a combination of cosmetic contact lenses and CGI.
[edit] Security issues
Over the years the VISOR that La Forge wore proved to be a security risk of sorts.
At one point Romulans were able to telepathically brainwash La Forge and turn him into a sleeper agent through his VISOR. The Romulans conditioned him so that when certain signals were received by his VISOR that he would carry out their orders. A Klingon ambassador who was a Romulan agent then tried to use La Forge to assassinate a Klingon governor in the hopes of destroying the Klingon-Federation alliance. Fortunately, this was detected and the Romulan's plot was foiled.
Later, during the events of Star Trek: Generations La Forge was captured by Doctor Tolian Soran. Soran had himself and La Forge transported aboard a renegade Klingon Bird of Prey commanded by the Duras sisters. The doctor tortured him for information, and then had him returned to the Enterprise-D after attaching a transmitter to La Forge's visor. The Klingons were able to use the data transmitted to inflict severe damage on the Enterprise. Even though the renegade Klingon vessel was destroyed, the damage to the Enterprise was so severe that it resulted in the destruction of the stardrive section and the crash landing of the saucer section on Veridian III.
La Forge's VISOR was also, in combination with a time-space fissure, responsible for triggering many of the events in the episode Parallels.
[edit] Reality
In reality, New Scientist 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 rats by installing an implant behind the retina. [1]
As of 2006, 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. [2]
