Previously, I've written about the digital "resurrection" of Tupac Shakur, Ronnie James Dio and others.  This week marked a giant leap forward (or backward depending on your worldview) in that trend.  The late Peter Cushing, who among other famous roles played the iconic Governor Tarkin in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, turns in a new "performance" 22 years after his death in the newly released Disney film, Rogue One. 

How is this possible?  Digital manipulation of Cushing's likeness. This is the latest in a line of developments where deceased musicians have "appeared" by hologram in concert, actors from bygone eras are inserted into TV commercials for vacuum cleaners and other products. 

With the release of Rogue One, it is indeed a different paradigm now in film, tv and video content. We are rapidly approaching an era where people's likenesses can be resurrected via CGI after death to create new "performances" in future years that we can't now contemplate. What is a live performance really mean in this context?