More than two centuries have passed since the death of Robert Burns, but Scotland's most famous poet looks very much alive in a new animation created by a team of researchers in the U.K.

Released today on the 259th anniversary of his birth, the clip shows a rosy-cheeked Burns reciting one of his most famous poems, "To a Mouse" (1785).

And this could be just the first of many such animations that collectively could transform the way living people interact with famous historical figures.

Get the mach newsletter. This site is protected by recaptcha

"In the future you may be able to interact with people from history digitally, listen to them speak, recite literature or guide you around a museum exhibit as a virtual avatar," Prof. Caroline Wilkinson, a craniofacial identification expert who is director of Liverpool John Moores University's Face Lab and leader of the multidisciplinary team that created the animation, said in a written statement.

With help from roboticists and experts in artificial intelligence, Wilkinson told NBC News MACH, the same techniques used to create the animation could eventually be used to create lifelike three-dimensional avatars of historical figures.