I thought you might go there but it’s not the same thing. That attraction uses actual statements made by Lincoln during his lifetime. It is no different than a motion picture depiction of a real figure from history. In fact, a motion pictured depiction is closer to this new idea because they put words in the historical figures mouth that were never spoken during that person‘s actual lifetime. On the other hand, no one takes either the Disney attraction or a movie to actually represent the real person.
This news report presents something different. If I understand this story about the Microsoft patent correctly, what they are proposing is creating a virtual representation that continues to present a reflection of a person’s being after death. I suppose you could say that to a very small degree this is already happened with television commercials that digitally use the image of deceased celebrities like John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe, but I don’t think we are doing anything at all like what this new idea represents.