Web Directions Year round learning for product, design and engineering professionals

Well, it’s probably not much of a shock, but much touted research by QUT postgraduate student Kim Mackenzie, (reports in SMH, Australian, SmartCompany and elsewhere) suggests that

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”

However

Mackenzie remains optimistic that the virtual world has a long term future. “It will be a very powerful medium for companies to utilise in the future, but there needs to be time and commitment given to it, and people need to be aware of it, and feel comfortable with it first,” she says.

I’m not so sure. Several huge challenges facing virtual worlds include

Most are if not all are not browser based – they require downloading and installing a desktop application (even Googles in page VW Lively requires a plug in – currently only for Windows and Firefox)
Users are required to invest significant time and effort customizing their avatars, and learning skills to fly, teleport or otherwise move through these spaces
As the realism of the places and avatars increases, VW’s will face the “uncanny valley” conundrum.

My betting VWs will go the way of “smell-o-vision” and quadrophonic sound.

But what does the wisdom of the crowd say?