Interesting WSJ piece on how Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre are testing out a touring approach at the Coachella festival that sees him on stage with a hologram recreation of Tupac Shakur - he of many posthumous albums. The guy has been dead for 16 years.
Technical wizards claim "This is not found footage. This is not archival footage. This is an illusion."
One imagines a well-designed avatar that's detailed enough to work at a visual distance in a dark auditorium/arena. It uses the same technology that the company in question, Digital Domain, employed to render the "younging" Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Done live, I suppose it's a high-end version of Disney's Haunted House ride. The basic trick, says the piece, goes all the way to Victorian England.
If you saw the most recent Mission Impossible movie, Ethan Hunt employs something like this when breaking into the Kremlin.
What would you pay to see a dead figure "live" on stage? I am sure we'll find out over the coming years.
Still, as someone who does public speaking, it's hard not to be intrigued at the possibilities.