what3words

[K23]

Anyone familiar with this? I think it's absolutely brilliant.

For those that aren't, it's a geographical 'address' system that's been around for a few years now. The entire surface of the globe is divided up into 3m x 3m squares (so there are over 50 million of them) and every single one is assigned a three word identification. Navigating to our home postcode will only get you to about 250-300 yards from our house which is bloody useless but I can provide a W3W identification which will take you to our front porch or a different one which will take you to our back door. About 3 years ago, I gave a structural engineer the W3W ID of the 3m square next to part of a wall of our house which had developed a nasty crack and he found it without any help from us at all!

Emergency services, particularly search and rescue teams, have been using it for quite a while because it's not just confined to land or urban locations so if you're lost at sea in the middle of the Pacific Ocean or had an accident on a remote mountain hillside in the Himalayas, by accessing the app on your phone, it will tell you the 3 word ID of where you are and if you can transmit that to someone you can be pinpointed within 3 metres which is incredible IMO.

Its use is becoming more widespread now, I know some delivery companies like DPD are using it but not sure if they are accepting W3W as an actual delivery address yet though but a couple of years ago, my son & I had some work to do at Gymnasium Wandsworth so I Googled it for the address and it came up with lucky.cake.waving (in addition to 87 Wandsworth High St) so you could easily find the actual entrance to the building rather than just the building which happens to be part of a big shopping centre. I've also seen it used to identify individual stadium entrances too as most will have anything from about 8-20 of them depending on their size. Not sure if there are any satnav systems using it yet and I know Google Maps and Google Earth don't but I'm sure it will be incorporated soon. It's the future.

https://what3words.com/

 

[Neath_Jack]

Yes, been using it for a while now, it is a game changer in precise navigation.

 

[Pegojack]

Feck off Boris.

That's mine.

 

[Costello]

Just did it for Darran's house - the three words were

Massive Bell End

 

[Swanjaxs]

:lol:

Just did it for Darran's house - the three words were

Massive Bell End

 

[Swanjaxs]

I've had a look at this and some amazing tech, but how can this be better than Google Maps? Do you have to have your destinations 3 word signature to go "door to door"? And how do you obtain it in the search engine?

A simple postcode in Google Maps will get you to where you want and less head work ...

 

[K23]

I've had a look at this and some amazing tech, but how can this be better than Google Maps? Do you have to have your destinations 3 word signature to go "door to door"? And how do you obtain it in the search engine?

A simple postcode in Google Maps will get you to where you want and less head work ...

If you first open the W3W app on your phone, then either find where you want to go on their map and tap the square or enter the W3W ID if you already know it, then tap navigate and it comes up with navigation options, one of which is Google Maps. It's more pinpoint accurate than a postcode as postcodes usually cover a number of buildings. It's certainly more accurate than using my postcode in Google Maps The point is, this works in places and countries where there are no postcodes.

 

[Swanjaxs]

I've had a look at this and some amazing tech, but how can this be better than Google Maps? Do you have to have your destinations 3 word signature to go "door to door"? And how do you obtain it in the search engine?

A simple postcode in Google Maps will get you to where you want and less head work ...

If you first open the W3W app on your phone, then either find where you want to go on their map and tap the square or enter the W3W ID if you already know it, then tap navigate and it comes up with navigation options, one of which is Google Maps. It's more pinpoint accurate than a postcode as postcodes usually cover a number of buildings. It's certainly more accurate than using my postcode in Google Maps The point is, this works in places and countries where there are no postcodes.

Just selected the Google Maps option and it works a treat! Cracking bit of tech K

 

[JustJack]

Yes it's been around a while and is very helpful to the emergency services

For data collection its probably a pain though as a postcode system allows for clean groups of data (i.e SA1), rather than a random string of words (i.e apple, house, shoe)

 

[Neath_Jack]

Yes it's been around a while and is very helpful to the emergency services

For data collection its probably a pain though as a postcode system allows for clean groups of data (i.e SA1), rather than a random string of words (i.e apple, house, shoe)

Try finding a sub-station in the middle of nowhere with a postcode. New developments out in greenfield sites, postcodes are rubbish, whereas this thing can land you on the actual doorstep.

One of our work premises, the postcode covers two sides of a dual carriageway, potluck where people end up a lot of the time. Postcodes are okay for most things, but as with all technology, improvements are out there and this is a massive one.

 

[K23]

I know it can never happen because they're allocated by an algorithm but it would be hilarious if you could choose your own

 

[Niigata Jack]

Just tried to find this on my IPhone but its already there it seems ??

Scrap that, sorted now, be handy for the next time I'm looking for a farmhouse in fuknows where :lol: