The Xbox 360's hands-free motion controller, due to hit sometime next year, could be more than just a new way to gyrate frantically or befriend boys in front of your television screen. It could also replace your TV remote.
Xbox Live GM Marc Whitten has designs on replacing the traditional TV remote with voice and gesture recognition, courtesy of Project Natal. According to a report from Yahoo! Tech, Whitten believes that Natal "will be the largest leap of TV experience since the remote control," providing better input options than the increasingly complex remote.
How? By recognizing common, button-less input via Natal.
"Laughter is an input," Whitten said at the Streaming Media West show last week. "Yelling at the TV when I know an answer on 'Jeopardy' is an input. Attention is an input. The number of people in the room at one time is an input." And, you know, that's a fairly interesting concept.
Microsoft Sees 'Natal' as Your Next TV Remote [Yahoo! Tech]