Remember when anyone, including the girlfriend or wife, could come home and turn on the receiver and select the tuner and play music in about 5 seconds? That's what needs to become reality with server based audio.
Sure, it can be achieved. My system is modeled after the touch screen display and JRiver as described here.
Touch Screen Music Server
The touch screen makes the operation considerably easier than consumer HT receiver remote control with 100 buttons or a laptop with remote screen sharing. It takes a lot of effort to set it up, but once it's up and running it's a breeze to browse and select music.