By mid-century, the exploding world of white-collar work presumed that its employees would—more often than not—have a wristwatch. Students received them as gifts upon graduation. Glanceability was precious in the highly coordinated world of office meetings. Craning your neck to look at the wall clock could risk offending a superior; a quick glance at your wrist wouldn't.

These, he says, are the two dominant candidates for smartphones. "But these can't be the only ones that can exist. In the past year we have seen a different way to do it — Live Tiles [as used in Microsoft's Windows Phone interface] — they're abstractions of data, a panoramic view of your data. It's a different approach — 'glanceability', such as in the People Hub."

Put your head on a swivel in traffic. CR-Z has considerable blind spots. Fat rear roof pillars and triangular rear side windows rob glance-ability.

Note that the Scope will always provide a single point of visual focus, independent of the number of wedges or services providing notifications. Thus, the glanceability of the design allows the interface to scale.