Few lives left for Second Life

The companies that rushed to set up bases within the cult virtual world of Second Life appear to have wasted their time as many have shut down and others are "ghost towns", an Australian researcher has found.

Separately, figures released by the virtual world's creator Linden Lab in April show there are only 12,245 active Australian Second Life users, down from highs of 16,000 towards the end of last year.

During a period of immense hype over the past few years, Second Life - which allows people to interact through virtual "avatars" and build and trade in-world items - was billed as a way for companies to form deeper online connections with customers by connecting with them in a 3D virtual setting.

But Australians appear to have lost interest in Second Life and the users still there appear to be shying away from the big corporate brands.