Orbis Flying Eye Hospital

The brief

Orbis International fights avoidable blindness. Its Flying Eye Hospital is a fully equipped teaching eye hospital inside an aircraft, which flies to countries where it trains local doctors, nurses and technicians. In 2016 the charity replaced its DC-10 with an MD-10 donated by FedEx.

Orbis wanted supporters, donors and partners anywhere in the world to be able to step on board.

The tour

We photographed the aircraft interior in Sacramento, California, in 360°, and built a virtual tour that takes visitors from the classroom at the front of the plane through to the operating theatre and recovery room.

The tour is narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou, Orbis’s Continental Ambassador for Africa, and works on phone, desktop and VR headset. It launched in November 2016.

“What I appreciate most is that Orbis has a direct impact on people’s lives.” Djimon Hounsou

Why it matters

Very few people will ever board the Flying Eye Hospital. A narrated tour lets Orbis show exactly what donations pay for and how the plane works as a “flying eye university”, wherever its audience is. It is a model for any organisation with a remarkable space that most people can’t visit.