ORTY: Bringing the Overview Effect to the Next Generation

What if every student could experience what astronauts describe as the most transformative moment of their lives?

That's the question driving the Overview Roundtable for Youth (ORTY) — HSP's immersive education program that uses virtual reality to bring the Overview Effect to the next generation. Funded by a Phase 2 grant from the Agog Foundation, ORTY is built on five years of successful Overview Roundtable meetings and designed for students, educators, and youth organizations worldwide.

The program combines VR experiences simulating the astronaut's view of Earth with systems dynamics education and cross-cultural youth connections. It's a blended learning approach: students don't just watch a video of Earth from space — they experience it immersively, then work together to understand the systems that sustain life on our planet.

The Overview Roundtable — ORTY's parent program — has been meeting weekly for six consecutive years, with 435+ registered members and approximately 35 weekly attendees from around the world. ORTY channels that same global community energy toward younger participants, creating a pipeline of Overview-aware thinkers who will carry this perspective forward.

If you're an educator or youth organization interested in bringing ORTY to your students, reach out through our contact page. The Overview Effect shouldn't be reserved for the few who leave Earth — it should be shared with the many who will shape its future.