The original line up of Duran Duran are set to return to music – as customizable online characters.

The 1980s group announced it is to re-launch itself with all original members – Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor and Nick Rhodes – set to appear as "avatars" on a website called Second Life.

Rhodes said the band enjoyed experimenting as they had done with music videos in the 1980s. "Whatever you can imagine is now possible," he said in a statement. "Second Life is the future right now, offering endless possibilities for artists."

The band are also set to perform a live gig on the site, at http://secondlife.com, in the next few weeks.