Never get lost again - what3words

[razz]

https://what3words.com/products/what3words-app/

This is an amazing new app to help you navigate the entire world or locally or to seek help if lost. Easier than GPS to use. Check it out. Anyone used it?

[SteveinMN]

I've had the app on my phone for a year or two. Brilliant idea! I can even see the address change as I move about our house. I just wish it was used more within buildings like municipal buildings, hospitals that have sprawled all over for decades, etc. So much better than current navigation, which pretty much drops you in the parking lot and done.

[bae]

My Search & Rescue team uses this, and we love it.

[razz]

Bae, that is good to know. It is such a different approach to navigation and needs to be shared more widely. I just heard about it on CBC news.

[Teacher Terry]

Just download as I have no directions sense whatsoever:)).

[JaneV2.0]

That looks wonderful for ramblers and adventurers alike. I'll pass the link along.

[razz]

My Search & Rescue team uses this, and we love it.

Bae, would you please advise what situations arose that triggered this support request; is it used as a 911 equivalent or just getting lost or scary situations or out on the sea. I am trying to understand its full potential use.

I know that I got lost in a snowstorm in unfamiliar terrain which was rolling so getting a sense of direction was very difficult and the edges of the actual road were hard to see. I now have a maps app that tells me where to turn which has been very helpful. I am trying see where and which support to use and when. TIA

[ToomuchStuff]

I would be interested in Bae's response as well. I am wondering if someone can use this to find someone (or rather, their phone), or if it requires active participation by the phones, user? (example, someone called 911 and passed out, verses actively trying to give their location)

In my case, this would be handy if no active participation was required, to help a diabetic that looses their phone, especially when having bad days, to locate the phone.

[SteveinMN]

One of the original drivers for What3Words was very dense areas of population. While most of us are used to (named, often unique, and sometimes logical) street addresses which are further subdivided into apartment or suite numbers as needed, there are many areas in which that kind of classification does not exist. For example, in the slums that surround cities in South America, people live in whatever they can piece together -- a tent, large pieces of canvas or cardboard, etc. It's not a formal livable structure -- yet it exists. A shopping center may be identified by its official street address, but you know how far away you can be from the store you want to visit when you walk inside. Temporary gatherings, like the tent cities that have popped up in Minneapolis and St. Paul, fill fields, not streets.

So there's value in being able to use more granular location identifiers. Identifying by, say, leaves.indeed.stable is far more specific than saying "I'm at the park, by the pond (no I don't know which one)". That's good for first responders to know. It's good for friends to know if you plan to meet up with them. Waterborne incidents is another area in which What3Words shines.

With the What3Words app on my phone, I can navigate, identify where I am and share with others I designate. There are devices which use What3Words as a locator and first responders who can receive that beacon and use it to respond. The What3Words Web site lists many devices and uses; I'm sure bae can fill in on how his groups use it.

I just wish it would catch on quicker.

[razz]

I just wish it would catch on quicker.
This is why I am amazed that I am just reading about it now and sharing the info. It sounds like an awesome app to have on one's phone. That young woman who died after getting lost snowshoeing on a trail in BC is an avoidable tragedy.
TMS had some good questions as well.

[razz]

I just wish it would catch on quicker.
This is why I am amazed that I am just reading about it now and sharing the info. It sounds like an awesome app to have on one's phone. That young woman who died after getting lost snowshoeing on a trail in BC is an avoidable tragedy.
TMS had some good questions as well.

[ToomuchStuff]

The ironic thing is, this app, does what GPS does. Some will say, no, it does finer detail, but they don't realize how GPS works. What us civilians use is intentionally scrambled to a lower standard, while the military's wouldn't need this app.
My late uncle was a surveyor that used GPS, and was given access to military grade when doing work for the government, and the oil industry.

[razz]

Off topic - I wish I knew why I am getting two identical posts lately. The 'submit' starts and stops. I just switched to a new provider for my internet which had become so slow and a problem. I had to update all my devices to the new wifi broadcast and all my accounts since my phone number changed as well.

Yes, I did clear my cache including cookies and lost some of my passwords including to SLF. Yes, I have a password keeper but it seems that Google save and autofill is causing some problems as well. I don't think that the SLF are the problem. My apologies for the double posts. Grrrr.

Meanwhile back to the thread...

[SteveinMN]

The ironic thing is, this app, does what GPS does. Some will say, no, it does finer detail, but they don't realize how GPS works. What us civilians use is intentionally scrambled to a lower standard, while the military's wouldn't need this app.
It's great that GPS gets far more granular than what us mere mortals ;) may use. But if we are not allowed to use the really good version, one can contend it (sort of) doesn't exist. W3W is publicly available to anyone who wants to use it, without permission beyond accepting an end user agreement.

In addition, W3W provides much the same function that Domain Name Service provides on the Internet -- it gives places a name that's far easier to remember. It's easier to search for, find, and type simplelivingforum.net instead of 104.192.220.109. It's easier to ask someone to meet you at jumping.reinstated.jaunts than it is to ask them to go to 44.854218, -93.239078 (Gate C of the mass transit station at the Mall of America); humans just are not good at tracking so many digits accurately.

So I think there's value in What3Words given the alternatives.

[bae]

We use it in the field for most often for locating other search team members in the field. Sight lines are quite limited in the forest/mountain area here, we communicate by radio, and the radio signal is often a bit sketchy, depending on your location, where the repeaters are, tree cover, and so on. As a result, reading out detailed GPS coordinates is subject to error - the long strings of numbers are likely to be misheard, or have some of the information dropped out. What3Words are pretty identifiable and robust words, and if you repeat the phrase 2-3 times, the message tends to get through, or is immediately found to be incorrect.

It's also very handy to tell people where to meet up when you are scattered about.

Also, search victims are often not up to the task of relaying their GPS coordinates from their phone if they have them, for a variety of reasons. Several times we have coached them through the process of downloading the What3Words apps (if they are lucky enough to have cell data coverage here), and then things proceed much smoother. This is just a low-probability use of the tool though, as victims often don't have any communications channel available, nor a data connection.

We did have a lady 2 years ago manage to send us several photos of terrain features she could see, from her phone, and we were able to get her position with deductions from that, which was cool.