After living in Atlanta for ten years, I can tell you three things. First, no one correctly pronounces "Ponce de Leon". Second, you definitely don’t want to be on Highway 285 or 75 during peak hours. Third, there are about fifty versions of the street that contain the word "peach tree". The last problem is particularly serious because you may be looking for an address at the corner of Peachtree Avenue and Peachtree Street... Or is it Peachtree Avenue or Peachtree Avenue? Confusion can cause you to probably not want your children to hear a series of ugly curses.
Three-word Address, based in London, believes that its application can solve this problem. The application divides the world into 57 trillion squares, each of which is 3 square meters (10 x 10 feet). Each square is assigned a random three-character string (for example, one of my favorite coffee shops in Austin is located on about 10 squares, one of which is labeled "flame.weekends.returns". Lamborghini is very Like this idea, until the 2022 model, every Huracán will integrate a three-word address into the navigation system enabled by Amazon's Alexa system.
Giles Rhys Jones, Chief Marketing Officer of What3Words, said: “When you look at it objectively, the world is not well resolved.” “Even if you have a street address, there is still ambiguity. For example. There are 5 Broadway in New York. In the UK, there are a few church streets. If you say, "Take me to Harrod's, it will make you fall in the middle of the store."
Other automakers are already using three-word addresses; for example, to activate it in Mercedes-Benz models, you can say "Navigate to what3words" followed by three words. Owners of Triumph motorcycles can use it in the Triumph app. Lotus added it to its in-app charging point map, and Ford also used a geocoding company in its Sync 3 system.
Random algorithms create short, memorable keywords; the longest has eight letters, and the shortest has two letters. The company stated that using a three-word phrase is easier than reciting the full address, and can navigate to a place without an address, such as a stadium or a specific entrance in a rural area. If a user is looking for friends in a crowded car show or amusement park, it is theoretically easier to say "Meet me at party.at.five" than "Well, I am standing near the woman holding the banner". There is a monkey on it, and there is a man in a green shirt next to me."
40,000 words make up 64 trillion three-word combinations, and there is a collection for every place you step out, even if it is located in a remote place. It seems to be an ideal tool for emergency services, especially for rural people. However, some people complain that when making a 911 call, the words are too easy to be confused or misunderstood, especially when the caller's adrenaline soars due to stress.
"We found that there are many spelling problems, which may be caused by the time when the emergency service location is designated. The local accent is also a problem," Mark Lewis, the ICT leader of the Mountain Rescue Organization in England and Wales, told the BBC.
According to reports, four tourists were rescued by this app during a snowstorm on Ben Nevis, one of the highest peaks in the UK. According to KDKA News in Pittsburgh, this underprepared group was found by the Mount Lochaber Rescue Team in Scotland, and they used the app to find tourists.
Hope this is a way to improve the wayfinding and will bring more overall innovation.
Are there any hints? Send a note to the author at kristin.shaw@thedrive.com.
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