The television remote control, the most desired object in most households and the cause of family fights around the country, could soon be a thing of the past... if you believe the grand proclamations coming from Microsoft these days.

According to Yahoo! Tech, Mark Whitten, the general manager responsible for Microsoft's Xbox Live service, told attendees at the Streaming Media West show that Project Natal could possibly replace the remote control for your television and become the biggest revolution in television technology since the remote control's invention. "It won't be a remote control that consumers use.  A remote control is already too hard," Whitten stated.  Instead, users will be able to motion with their wrists to change a channel or start a movie just by using their voice.

Whitten also sees a future where television becomes a more interactive experience. Televisions, presumably with an assist from Project Natal, would be able to recognize a user's laugh or if the user is yelling answers at the television during a game show like Jeopardy! Whitten even believes that the television would be able to determine whether a particular user is paying attention to what is on the screen and how many people are in the room.  Based upon this feedback, Project Natal would present content based upon a user's interests.

Would these features convince you to buy Project Natal? Or is this just a little too Big Brother meets HAL-9000 for you? Sound off below!

Project Natal has a tentative release date of late 2010.

Source: Yahoo! Tech