How to add "run slideshow" button?

This is one of those "is this possible" requests ...

I've been happily using Colorbox (7.2) in conjunction with Node Gallery, but I'd like to change the way the UI works. Node Gallery renders the set of images using a regular view, so this question is really in relation to views, not specific to Node Gallery.

The view is a straight-forward set of thumbnails, rendered using the Colorbox display mode, so clicking any image opens the whole group in Colorbox, allowing prev/next & slideshow - all fine so far.

But what I'd like to do is add a single button to the view labelled "Run Slideshow", which does the same thing without having to click on an image. This is because I want to change the link on the image to open the node page holding the image instead. This is what you get by clicking on a thumbnail title, but it's a distinction which is confusing for users, so I want to make the operation of launching the Colorbox display more explicit.

I'm having trouble getting my head round how to create a button that will load Colorbox in the same way the the links on the images do, as well as change the actual links on the images.

Any suggestions?

TIA