I have just been reading about what3words, an innovative way to transmit a precise position without having to resort to GPS position or address. The problem with coordinates, be they grid or geographical, is that as soon as you involve a human there is always a risk that those pesky numbers get transposed. And postal addresses are fine if you live in an urban area, but if you are trying to direct someone to a particular field of your farmland how do you do that?
What 3 words is a concept that uses a combination of 3 words to pin point you anywhere in the world to within a 3 metre grid square. So rather than say 51°30′12″N 0°07′11″W (ok, I know, less granuality then a 3x3m square) one can type youth.names.zones (dots are not needed) into their search page and ta dah, you are at the London Eye.
Now I like this. I like the simplicity of it. So where would I currently like to be - according.gloom.broads? Although there is no particular sanity check over the words, the creators have ensured that similar names are nowhere near each other spatially. So if you mistype a word you end up in such the wrong place that you know you've gone wrong. Indeed, if you put in according.gloom.broad you end up on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. Not where I intended.
What 3 words is a concept that uses a combination of 3 words to pin point you anywhere in the world to within a 3 metre grid square. So rather than say 51°30′12″N 0°07′11″W (ok, I know, less granuality then a 3x3m square) one can type youth.names.zones (dots are not needed) into their search page and ta dah, you are at the London Eye.
Now I like this. I like the simplicity of it. So where would I currently like to be - according.gloom.broads? Although there is no particular sanity check over the words, the creators have ensured that similar names are nowhere near each other spatially. So if you mistype a word you end up in such the wrong place that you know you've gone wrong. Indeed, if you put in according.gloom.broad you end up on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. Not where I intended.
No comments:
Post a Comment