What3words (stylized what3words) is a geocoding system for the communication of locations with a resolution of three metres. What3words encodes geographic coordinates into three dictionary words. For example, the torch of the Statue of Liberty is located at "toned.melt.ship". This differs from most other location encoding systems in that it displays three words rather than long strings of numbers or letters. What3words has a website, apps for iOS and Android, and an API that enables bidirectional conversion of what3words address and latitude/longitude coordinates. As the system is algorithmic it works with no data connection and is permanently fixed and unchangeable.
Video What3words
History
Founded by Chris Sheldrick, Jack Waley-Cohen, Mohan Ganesalingam, and Michael Dent, what3words launched in July 2013. Sheldrick and Ganesalingam originally conceived the idea after Sheldrick struggled to get equipment and bands to event locations on time due to inadequate addressing while working as a concert organizer. The company was incorporated on March 5, 2013 and a patent application for the core technology filed on April 19, 2013.
In November 2013, what3words raised $500,000 of seed funding, and in March 2014 the company raised a second seed round of $1,000,000. On November 3, 2015, what3words closed a $3.5 million Series A funding round led by Intel Capital, with Li Ka-shing's Horizons Ventures participating. On June 29, 2016, what3words closed a $8.5 million Series B round led by Aramex. On January 10, 2018 Mercedes-Benz bought approximately 10% of the company, and announced it would be built into future vehicles .
Maps What3words
Design principles
What3words uses a grid of the world made up of 57 trillion squares of 3 metres by 3 metres. Each square has been given a three-word English address. What3words has named the world's landmass with three words in various other languages. As of December 2016, what3words addresses (as well as web and iOS app user interface) are available in Arabic, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Mongolian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish; the iOS app also supports Swahili. What3words launched 12 more languages at the start of 2018: Indonesian, Zulu, Japanese, Korean, and Hindi. The company has also mentioned Chinese and various languages of India, including Bengali, Farsi and Urdu.
Each what3words language uses a wordlist of 25,000 words (40,000 in English, as it covers the sea as well as land). The lists go through multiple automated and human processes before being sorted by an algorithm that takes into account word length, distinctiveness, frequency, and ease of spelling and pronunciation. Homophones and variant spellings are treated to minimize any potential for confusion, and offensive words are removed.
The what3words algorithm actively shuffles similar-sounding three-word combinations around the world to enable both human and automated error-checking. The result is that if a three-word combination is entered slightly incorrectly and the result is still a valid what3words reference, the location will usually be so far away from the user's intended area that it will be immediately obvious to both a user and an intelligent error-checking system.
The what3words system uses a proprietary algorithm in combination with a limited database, meaning that the core technology is contained with a file around 10 MB in size. What3words originally sold "OneWord" addresses, which were stored in a database for a yearly fee, but this feature has been canceled.
The main claimed advantages of what3words are memorability, error-detection, unambiguous nature of words for most everyday and non-technical uses and voice input.
Critiques
Supporters of open standards denounce the what3words system for being controlled by a private business and the software for being copyrighted and thus not freely usable. The fact that similar addresses are purposely far away from each other is also seen by some as a disadvantage. What3words reserves the right to change their list of words and will not be responsible for the consequences. The square size is fixed, limiting location accuracy to 3 metres. The grid is two-dimensional, so the addressing scheme does not distinguish between floors in a building. The system supports 26 languages, although each language covers the world's entire land areas.
Users
Asset management
- in2care - mosquito trap maintenance in Tanzania
- Metcom - fire hydrant management in Colorado
- Pollinate - energy solar lighting installation in the slums of India
- Videre - solar lighting installations in Botswana
Awards
- Grand Prix for Innovation at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
- The Tech Awards Sobrato Organization Economic Development Award
- D&AD Black Pencil
- FT/IFC Transformational Business Awards commendation for Achievement in Transformational Technology
- KPMG Best British Mobile Startup
- PWC Great Innovation Challenge Winner
- Accenture Consumer Innovation Award
- BT Tech for Good Award
Parodies
A number of parody sites have been created to satirize what3word's proprietary nature, including:
- What2Numbers - uses WGS84 coordinates
- What3Fucks - uses swear words
- what3ducks - uses ducks
Competitors
Alphanumeric competitors include:
- Open Location Code (2014)
- Makaney Code (2011)
- Geohash (2008)
- MapCode (2008)
- Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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