Can virtual reality recreate the overview effect? I took a $50 trip to space to find out.
The International Space Station hovered before me against a black, starry sky. Looking down, I couldn’t see my feet at all, just the curved, blue shape of the Earth. I was only a few minutes into my tentative spacewalk when I was interrupted by a flash of red text across my screen: A staff member was trying to talk to me. Had I done something wrong already?
No, at least not yet. My virtual reality headset’s battery was evidently running low and needed to be switched out. I clumsily removed it, then looked around the dark room, sneaking a peek at my fellow space explorers. A handful of people wearing VR goggles were roaming the polished floors of the hall, which spanned almost half the size of a football field. I was inside the “The Infinite,” a virtual …