Does Anyone Use What3words?

Yorkshire-Man on 06/06/2022 - 14:12

Hi All,

Just wanted to share this with everyone as it just seems like a brilliant idea. My friend is a paramedic in the UK, she got me to download an app called what3words… its also a website here:- https://what3words.com/

Basically its broken down the whole planet into a grid and by knowing the '3 words' in the right order you can locate the exact spot anywhere on the planet. She tells me the emergency services are using it there and its a gamechanger for locating people who are lost or unsure of their address.

I'm well impressed, wanted to share… anyone else use this already?

Obligatory poll.

Poll Options expired

  • 13
    Yes
  • 23
    No
  • 1
    Don't Care
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Comments

  • DiscountForThee on 06/06/2022 - 14:21
    +1

    I've heard about it and played with it a while ago. I've never had a use for it but I imagine exact locations for paramedics would be handy. Another one I bet would be picnic locations in a giant park

  • GG57 on 06/06/2022 - 14:21
    +2

    It can be useful.

    What annoys me is that it is not intuitive in which direction you need to move to reach the location. Using Long./Lat., the direction is easier to understand.

    • Yorkshire-Man on 06/06/2022 - 15:20
      +1

      The app is integrated to waze/maps etc… so with the '3words' you can handover to your favourite nav app.

      Lol, I'm not easily impressed but this seemed like a genuine big leap in navigating.

  • SBOB on 06/06/2022 - 14:30
    +3

    It's built in to the emergency plus 000 application,and shows the 3word location next to the latitude/longitude GPS coordinates

  • bobbified on 06/06/2022 - 14:36
    +3

    I could be wrong, but it seems like internet access is required. If that's the case, then that rules out using it in remote ((where being able to provide a precise location can be useful) areas where there is no data connection

    • MattyTheMad on 07/06/2022 - 08:32

      It is probably implemented in apps with a database less that 40,000 words. The app claims it identifies 57 trillion different locations on earth. The cubic root of that is roughly 38,500. We use the cubic root as there are 3 words. Then it would be just some simple math to convert those to some sort of longitudinal/latitudinal grid they've decided on.

      If they were to have such an app and able to at least get a phone call out it wouldn't be a problem.

  • djones145 on 06/06/2022 - 14:40
    +2

    I am here

  • JimmyF on 06/06/2022 - 14:51
    +4

    Google also has a system like this called plus code. Its built into every google maps and words offline.

    https://maps.google.com/pluscodes/

    • Yorkshire-Man on 06/06/2022 - 15:21

      Thanks, you learn something new everyday!

      • JimmyF on 06/06/2022 - 17:04

        Both work, just more FYI for those not wanting to install a extra app. what3words is slightly easier I think to communicate though. Wished Google would bake it in.

  • singlemalt72 on 06/06/2022 - 14:58

    It is a great alternative to Latitude and Longitude, I came across a bad accident while driving for work, and while I could provide a rough idea of the location (quite remote) over the satelllite phone, I had a very difficult time relaying the Lat and Long to the 000 operator due to a noisy line. Being able to use what3words would have been a much better option.

    A number of apps are able to supply the words without an internet connection, I just tested the Emergency Plus app with wifi and mobile turned off and it was spot-on!

  • 7ekn00 on 06/06/2022 - 15:39
    -3

    Wait until you find out every phone device has a far more accurate GPS system :P

    • Chandler on 06/06/2022 - 16:02
      +1

      what3words uses your GPS location to give you your three words. The premise is that it is much easier for you to tell someone "purple monkey dishwasher" than to tell them "37.417893 North, -103.776335 East"

      • 7ekn00 on 06/06/2022 - 16:19
        -2

        Not the way it works :P

        Every SMS app on every phone contains a "Location" button, it sends a single tag to the person receiving, that person taps and opens a map with the sent location! Far easier than entering three words, sending, receiver opening an app, re-entering those three words and searching a 3m x 3m area!!

        • Yorkshire-Man on 06/06/2022 - 16:23
          +1

          But if you call the ambo's three words is easier. Also business can add their '3 words' to their website (seems to be big in the UK) and people can find them really easily.

          • 7ekn00 on 06/06/2022 - 16:26
            -1

            @Yorkshire-Man: 1) Can SMS while calling since 2002
            2) Google Maps, single click on "locate business" (instead of copying and pasting 3 words into a different website/app)

        • chrisie on 06/06/2022 - 17:52

          Excuse my ignorance but where would I find the "location button" in the SMS App (Android) ?

        • nothommus on 07/06/2022 - 08:14
          +1

          Ok cool so what if im travelling remote, no signal, but i have a HF radio and send out a call requesting help. Its a bad connection. Trying to send exact coordinates isnt getting through and takes me 20min to get the exact coordinates repeated back to me. Meanwhile the situation has deteriorated even further.

          OR i could tell them the 3 words which are infinitely easier to communicate with bad signal, and help could be on its way.

          If im broken down in the desert do i care if the people rescuing me are heading to a 3x3 area or a 10cm point? Pretty sure theyre going to find me even with a 3x3..

          GPS is nice but i think what3words has its place, provided the emergency services understand how its used (Im not sure on this - Does anyone know?)

          • 7ekn00 on 07/06/2022 - 09:12
            -1

            @nothommus: Yeah, but if I was hiking, fell down a ravine, broke both arms, I can hit the SMS "location" button with my nose … no way I could type 3 words …

            • nothommus on 07/06/2022 - 09:30

              @7ekn00: Yeah but youre completely missing the point of 'no signal'. If youre hiking and fall down a ravine, chances are you have zero telephone signal. I would hope you have a PLB though.

              There are plenty of different ways to try and get help when needed - Just because sms location might be a thing, doesnt mean its always going to work. I would rather have any and all available options in my toolbox in an emergency.

              Last hike i did (9 days through remote wilderness) i carried a PLB - Never used it thankfully, but theres no way i wouldnt of taken it. Had my phone for photos but except for one mountain peak i had zero reception.

              • 7ekn00 on 07/06/2022 - 11:13

                @nothommus: And zero reception means no three words either … not missing the point at all …

                How do you send your three words via PLB?!?

                • nothommus on 07/06/2022 - 11:35

                  @7ekn00: @7ekn00 If you have a PLB you dont have to do anything but trigger it as it uses satellites. As for W3W, as per my comment further up, RADIO.
                  Have you actually ever gone hiking anywhere remote? 9/10 you wont have any form of cellular reception, especially as 5G takes off. 5G is fantastic for speed but terrible for distance which is why you need more towers.
                  Not that you would often carry a HF radio hiking (Although it is very achievable - Have a look at people doing SOTA - Summits on the air) but across the outback, a HF radio will get you a few thousand KM pretty easily.

                  So yes. Missing the point.

                  Yes, if you have mobile reception go ahead and send someone your physical location via GPS coordinates.
                  If you end up in a situation where you have a very patchy signal back to someone and are in dire needs are you actually going to spend 20+min trying to give coordinates to someone which could be incorrectly transcribed in the end or get the much easier 3 words across? I know what im going to do.

                  • 7ekn00 on 07/06/2022 - 12:00
                    -1

                    @nothommus: So without reception, how do you actually look up your three word location to send via those thousands of kilometers covered by HF radio (or do you look them all up before the hike/drive and write thousands of words on the map, just incase)?!?

                    Or are you speculating, just enough reception to run the three words app and get your 3 words location, but in that exact same location, not enough reception to send a single press location … ok, I see that perfectly logical situation arising ;)

                    • nothommus on 07/06/2022 - 12:55

                      @7ekn00: @7ekn00
                      https://support.what3words.com/en/articles/3577645-what-is-t…

                      Whats that? It works offline just fine?
                      Seeing as you dont seem to have any real interest in even considering other options, im tapping out to do other more important things with my day.
                      All the best.

                      • 7ekn00 on 07/06/2022 - 13:03
                        -1

                        @nothommus: What's that? When your hiking and lost you know your location to use three words offline and mention that over HF radio?!?

                        That's amazing technology!

  • dtorr on 06/06/2022 - 16:30

    It was mentioned during the last First Aid and CPR refresher at work. Seems a lot easier than giving full GPS coordinates to the 000 operator.

  • pjetson on 06/06/2022 - 20:20
    +1

    Here's a youtube video entitled "What's wrong with what3words?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqK0ciE0rto

  • jamesorion on 08/06/2022 - 12:42

    My partner was asked to use it on the phone with 000 when we witnessed somebody get badly injured on a trail. Unfortunately, the operator wasn't good with spelling and the words were rather long and maybe not the easiest to spell, so it would have been easier to use coordinates instead, which she did in the end, but it still took around 10 minutes for them to work out where we were. Even after that, she had to explain several times where they needed to drive to and how to walk to get to where we were. Can't say W3W helped at all in that case.

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