Tim points this one out. This is exactly what I mean by glanceware. That it is entirely non-linguistic is even better. Know that you know something, without necessarily being aware how you know it. Their Stock Orb is exactly what I was proposing here.
noticed today in corporate land that on many desks the back of their Cisco voip handsets were glowing a nice red — meaning a message is waiting. simple retrofit: put an RGB LED in there, hell it’s already web accessible …
and btw the lovely thing about Stock Orby things is that in an environment where there are multiple orbs, you get a secondary effect (eg “WOW, nobody checked their messages today”). synchronicity or lack there of among multiple orbs. waves of color throughout the office indicate the boss is coming.
‘His orb has been spiralling purple and green for several minutes. We edged away from his desk, instinctively looking for cover, knowing what would happen next’. Kind of Logan’s Run, really.
i can see the lawsuits …