Modifying environmental chat distance based on avatar population density in an area of a virtual world

A method comprising:

• determining a number of avatars in an area of a virtual universe associated with an environmental chat associated with an avatar;
• determining a chat distance associated with the environmental chat based on the number of avatars in the area of the virtual universe associated with the environmental chat such that the chat distance is inversely proportional to the number of avatars;
• modifying the chat distance in response to a change in the number of avatars in the area of the virtual universe associated with the environmental chat;
• determining whether the area of the virtual universe associated with the environmental chat comprises an environmental chat obstruction;
• and
• if the area of the virtual universe associated with the environmental chat comprises an environmental chat obstruction, modifying the chat distance associated with the environmental chat based on a location of the environmental chat obstruction.

One or more machine-readable media having stored therein a program product, which when executed a set of one or more processor units causes the set of one or more processor units to perform operations that comprise:

• determining a number of avatars in an area of a virtual universe associated with an environmental chat associated with an avatar;
• determining a chat distance based on the number of avatars in the area of the virtual universe associated with the environmental chat;
• and
• modifying the chat distance in response to a change in the number of avatars in the area of the virtual universe associated with the environmental chat.

An apparatus comprising:

• one or more processing units;
• and
• a memory unit coupled to the one or more processing units, the memory unit having stored therein program instructions that are executable by the one or more processing units to:
• determine a number of avatars in an area of a virtual universe associated with an environmental chat associated with an avatar;
• determine a chat distance based on the number of avatars in the area of the virtual universe associated with the environmental chat;
• and
• modify the chat distance in response to a change in the number of avatars in the area of the virtual universe associated with the environmental chat.