Geordi La Forge
Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge is a fictional character who appeared in all seven seasons of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its four feature films. Portrayed 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 films. La Forge has been blind since birth and uses technological devices that allow him to see - a VISOR in the series and the first film, replaced by ocular prosthetic implants in the last three films.
Concept and development
Lt. (J.G.) Geordi La Forge
An away-mission regular who is racially black and birth-defect blind – although with prosthetic super-high tech artificial "eyes" which can detect electromagnetic waves from all the way from raw heat to high frequency ultra-violet, making other crewpersons seem hopelessly "blind" by comparison. His closest friend is Data, and the two of them are particularly efficient when working together on away missions. Because of his "eyes", Geordi can also perform some of the functions of a tricorder.
