Imagine you are lost in the jungle and you are clueless about your location and even clueless on how to determine your coordinates. How would you relay your location to someone even it happens you have GPS and phone signal?
what3words might be the solution to this problem. The company has superimposed small square grids (each one is 3 meter square) on every part of the earth.
Apparently, by using just 3 words, it is enough to cover every part of the world. And they become the universal “address” for that place and it will never change.
For example, for Marina Bay Sands Singapore, the location on the what3words app is called “useful.tunes.notes”. Use the app and key in these names and you get the location. Click on “Navigate” and you can select your favorite apps to lead you to that location. It is compatible with Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze and more.
I can imagine using it for food delivery services or PSV (Public Service Vehicle) services.
Sometimes, you wanted to be picked up at a specific location at a place. You can just use this app and with GPS to locate the exact location. Give the three unique names to the person and with the app, it can pinpoint the location accurately.
However, I guess the more interesting usage will be for those trekkers who might get lost in the deep forest. If they can pinpoint their position using the app, their location can be quickly determined by the app.
Kudos to the person who has thought about this unique universal “address” by using three words at a time.
Always love technologies that are helping people in daily life. What are your thoughts on it?
Download it now on Android or on iOS.
Check out this news on BBC on some of the usages of what3words.