target of Romulan brainwashing. In the episode "Interface", Geordi uses an experimental interface to his VISOR. In an environment too dangerous for humans to be in, Geordi sees, hears, feels and acts through a robot. 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, because it would have come at the cost of Riker's humanity, and later by Doctor Katherine Pulaski. Sometime between 2371 and 2373, before the time of the film Star Trek: First Contact, Geordi's VISOR was replaced by cybernetic eyes, performing the same functions. On film, they are depicted using a combination of cosmetic contact lenses and CGI. There was a short time period in Star Trek: Insurrection where Geordi gained actual eyesight, due to the effects of fictional metaphasic radiation, in the atmosphere of the planet Ba'ku. However, the effects of the metaphasic radiation wore off after leaving the planet, and the cybernetic eyes were once again used in the film Star Trek: Nemesis. 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. 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. There is a device developed by NASA called a Joint Optical Reflective Display, or JORDY, that is presumably named for Geordi La Forge. On August 14, 2012, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published an article stating the encoding of image information by the retina into patterns of action potentials has been replicated successfully by a prosthetic device and scientists have successfully restored full vision to blind mice. Scientists were able to mimic this ocular response using glasses, and speculate that a similar pair of glasses may be available for human use within two years. 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