Microsoft’s Marc Whitten sees Natal replacing television remote controls

Posted by Mister-X on November 28th, 2009 at 11:30pm

Speaking to a room full of executives focused on "the business of online video" at this year's Streaming Media West trade show, it's easy to understand how Xbox Live GM Marc Whitten could fall into hyperbole regarding the implications of Project Natal. "I believe that this will be the largest leap of TV experience since the remote control," Whitten said on the subject, reports Yahoo Tech. "With the flick of my wrist I can change a channel ... with the power of my voice I can start a movie."

Aside from the more obvious implications to television using technology that can interpret voice and motion, he sees a future where Natal will recognize individual voices in a room and allow for a variety of human input - from "laughter" to "the number of people in a room" and everything in between. "Watching a movie is a passive input, but a TV should understand what you're trying to do." We don't know about you, Marc, but we're a bit worried about the implications of our television understanding what some of us are trying to do.

[Via Edge]

Microsoft's Marc Whitten sees Natal replacing television remote controls originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.