This is ”ambient information” — the newest concept in how to monitor everyday data. With Ambient the physical environment becomes an interface to digital information, rendered as subtle changes in form, movement, sound, color or light.
The Orb is a frosted-glass ball that glows different colors to display traffic congestion or any other Ambient information channel: weather, windspeed, pollen, traffic congestion, real time stock market trends. The Ambient Orb arrives preset to track the Dow Jones Industrial Average, glowing more green or red to indicate market movement up or down, or yellow when the market is calm. It can be customized to a set of free channels, such as market indices or weather in major cities.
http://www.ambientdevices.com/cat/platform.html
