Blueprint has welcomed Isis' development of the Orbital workstation with a feature dedicated to its design in the May 2007 edition of the magazine. Describing it as a product that could define the educational ethos of an era, Blueprint said:
"It is fascinating to see the work of talented designers of bespoke design pieces work in this mass market. With Orbital, there is a more diffused and subtle expression of the oft-noted theatrical quality of their work. 'We watched what the teacher did, and we thought, we understood what they do. They are like stand-up comedians,' says Shin. One teacher told him a child's age in years corresponds directly to his attention span in minutes. To watch a group of pupils turn to follow their teacher from white board to television, is to watch them welcome something new.
It is easy to overstate the potential of Orbital, but it does conform to Keen's description of it as 'micro architecture'. With teachers using multiple resources around all sides of a room, such as white boards, maps, wall-charts and audio-visual equipment to enliven and strengthen lessons, the swiveling chair of Orbital gives the classroom a greater capacity. Pupils no longer need to twist round, and they can reconfigure the seating plan to suit the lesson: a traditional end-on seating plan, a U-shaped seminar style or a collection of tables for group work.
It is rare that such a clever product could evolve from a government initiative."