Sure. One would be when you mouse-enter, a small circle or bar appears that fills in as you hold your mouse there, indicating something will happen once it becomes full. Another would be to have the other thumbnails "peek" out on mouse over, which provides the user a place to click to activate the browser mode to see them.
I love your second idea; nice one. :) (Not sure how to make it work for mobile, though, unless you have it "peek" out all the time.)
The first reminds me too much of dcurtis' "Kudos" circle, though, where something happens because you left your mouse in the wrong spot for too long; it's nigh-infuriating sometimes.
