What3words app - pinpoint your exact location

[StuR]

A mate of mine showed me this app .
It's awesome and ideal for intrepid explorers like us Ebikers
Apparently it works on basis of deviding the world into 3mtr x 3mtr grids .
Each grid has its own 3 word unique reference.
So if your lost or injured you can open the app and get the 3 word location for the 3mtr square that your in , phone the emergency services , tell them the 3 words.
Sit tight and wait for a speedy rescue.
Genius !!
The emergency services are well on board with it .
Just Google " what3wordsapp" and download the free app.
It's already saved lives , sounds like a nobrainer to me

 

[kafkastan]

Good call. The Hazardous Area Response Team of South Central Ambulance Service tweeted last week that they used What3words to find a cyclist with suspected broken ankle in QECP. I installed the app myself after reading that.

 

[steve_sordy]

It is remarkably easy to use. And you can end up with some cool names. (You can't choose them, they are already set).

 

[Hitby]

W3W has been about for a while but it's good to see more people getting on board. It's even available on new Mercedes' sat navs.

Article in our local paper today about it saving four lads stuck on the Tees.

Three unique words helped save men after boat's battery died

 

[mark1a]

Also available as a Garmin Connect iQ widget on compatible head units too, in case the worst happens and the phone is out of reach.

 

[miPbiP]

Genius business, adding a proprietary layer to GPS. Wish I'd thought of it.

 

[Gary]

Coz grid ref iz 2 hard init?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.blerg&hl=en_GB

 

[Hitby]

True, but what's easier to read out if you've had a bad crash?

51.5081° N, 0.0759° W or heads.guides.hunter?

 

[Gary]

Grid ref has 2 letters and 6 figures

eg.

NT288424

top of spooky woods
(the most popular mtb accident location in Scotland)


TBH UK regional accents might make the unique words thing pretty interesting.

 

[mark1a]

That grid ref system is the Ordnance Survey National grid and is UK only - what3words is worldwide.

 

[miPbiP]

Grid ref has 2 letters and 6 figures

eg.

NT288424

top of spooky woods
(the most popular mtb accident location in Scotland)


TBH UK regional accents might make the unique words thing pretty interesting.

lots of people don't know how to use maps or grid references.

get just a digit wrong in a 6 figure grid ref and you can be over 200 metres from the location. easily done on a phone line perhaps in a stressful situation.

whereas the w3w code is for a 3mx3m location, and adjacent/nearby locations have completely different codes, not related in any way at all, to reduce chance of errors.

it's a total no-brainer. except for the cost! it's free to get the code for a location, I think they make their money by charging to look up the location for a code.

 

[Gary]

lots of people don't know how to use maps or grid references.

Yeah. That's why I linked to an App that instantly gives you your current grid ref.
You can text it to emergency services.
EVERYONE who you call to rescue you does know how to use it.

Get one word wrong with the 3 words thing and I'm guessing you could be on another continent.

FFS folk need to take some actual responsibility for themselves if they're going to be doing risky activities anywhere difficult to find.

 

[miPbiP]

Get one word wrong with the 3 words thing and I'm guessing you could be on another continent.

Exactly. So the operator will say "that code's in Dallas so can't be right if you're in Barnsley, let's try it again" instead of sending an ambulance to the street 2 blocks away.

 

[Gary]

FFS

 

[Thunderer]

GPStoSMS app is good, it sends a text or email with your lat & long

 

[kafkastan]

Yeah. That's why I linked to an App that instantly gives you your current grid ref. ... FFS folk need to take some actual responsibility for themselves if they're going to be doing risky activities anywhere difficult to find.

Such as, at present, installing the ‘What3words’ app which emergency services appear happy to use and promote? I’m failing to see how your grid-reference app is better, preferable and somehow more noble.

The six-digit variant of the UK grid reference system only pinpoints an area of 100sqm. That's quite a large area in a dense wood. To get to a more useful resolution, you need to use eight (10sqm) or ten (1sqm) digits. And more digits can mean more scope for error. And – with apologies to miPbiP as my intention is to overall agree with your point – getting one digit wrong can actually put you 90km off.

This is an interesting read, showing that many UK emergency services are actively encouraging W3W's use: BBC - What3words: The app that can save your life

 

[Gary]

Thanks for explaining the value of the App

but...

I’m failing to see how your grid-reference app is better, preferable and somehow more noble.

Where exactly did I say it was any of those things?
my "GR's hard init?" comment was clearly a joke!

OS Grid ref is simply a long established and well used means outdoor guides etc. have used to relay position to emergency services. I'm genuinely surprised when I meet folk who regularly pursue activities in the middle of nowhere who can't give a grid reference. You obviously can. As can I, so there's no need to explain its accuracy (or how the digits work) to me.
I don't know if you've ever contacted emergency services with a GR but they do actually ask for a lot more detail than just the 6 digits (if that's as accurate as you have)

a group of adults managing to get lost and needing rescued in Hamsterly Forest is quite a feat and I'm not so sure the groups lives were genuinely saved. Maybe from big rabbits? (yes... another joke) I'm sure others lives genuinely have been, and will be in future so yes. it can only be a good thing if everyone learns to use this technology.

 

[kafkastan]

Where exactly did I say it was any of those things?

You linked to your preferred app ("preferable"), you suggested the eight-character grid ref was just as good, yet simpler and more widely accepted ("better"), and also suggested that folk shouldn't go out to the woods to play unless they know the old-school tools ("more noble").

so there's no need to explain its accuracy (or how the digits work) to me. I don't know if you've ever contacted emergency services with a GR but they do actually ask for a lot more detail than just the 6 digits (if that's as accurate as you have)

Yet earlier you said "Grid ref has 2 letters and 6 figures", with the inference that the accuracy is comparable to that offered by W3W.

I read a lot about W3W before commenting on here. That the UK emergency services appear so keen on it convinced me it's a good thing. I think you were being instinctively and prematurely dismissive of it, and I wanted to reinforce my perspective.

As you say, deep in the woods, you and I will be fine. But the under-prepared kid on their first ride out may not be. In principle, I'm very much with you on navigation skills and map literacy. But it's all well and good pointing impatiently at the sun when someone asks which way is south at noon; they'll just assume you're pointing south, but weirdly upwards.

 

[kafkastan]

I don't know if you've ever contacted emergency services with a GR but they do actually ask for a lot more detail than just the 6 digits (if that's as accurate as you have)

Also, now I think of it, is that not quite the advert for W3W?

 

[Gary]

hmmm...

there are often more important "details" to be shared than which exact square foot the casualty is in.

 

[rsilvers]

GPS coords are hella confusing because some are decimals and some are minutes and seconds based on 60. I have tried to enter them many times and had to do it over and over until it worked. W3W is great providing emergency services knows what it is.

 

[kafkastan]

there are often more important "details" to be shared than which exact square foot the casualty is in.

3 metre square! Get with the program!

 

[Gary]

Whoooooooooooooooosssshhhhh...

 

[kafkastan]

The six-digit variant of the UK grid reference system only pinpoints an area of 100sqm. ... To get to a more useful resolution, you need to use eight (10sqm) or ten (1sqm) digits.

Sorry, I’ve realised that I used the wrong units there, making the classic ‘square metres’ (sqm) versus ‘metres square’ (msq) error. If anybody still cares, I should have said the UK grid ref expressed to six digits represents an area of 100 metres square, i.e. 10,000sqm or a hectare. Similarly, to eight digits is 10msq, so 100sqm. 1msq=1sqm, so I’m good there. That's my understanding anyhows; I'm happy to be corrected if I've got it wrong.

 

[miPbiP]

I love it that w3w gives location to a 3 metre square, so my bed has a different code to the landing.

 

[F-GODZ]

I had a small off yesterday at: intervene.placidly.mondays

I like w3w, it's great for organizing meeting-up places, car parks etc. It's probably amazing if you're into dogging
Just another tool.

 

[Beekeeper]

I’m gonna create one called “3 bikes”

“help help, I need assistance. My location is Levo, Decoy, Kenevo”

 

[STATO]

I know the guy in the current 3words advert (at least the one showing in the UK). He is an experienced outdoorsman (or whatever youd call it) and knows how to look after himself, still he ended up in a situation wherehe needed assistance and due to the weather used 3words to add detail to his location information. Im sure he could easily have used something else but this was obviously to hand and easy to communicate in bad weather. I think its a useful tool but obviously shouldn't be a replacement for actually knowing how to navigate, but lets face it most people struggle with using google maps so getting them to download and use 3words is probabaly easier than anything else.

 

[urastus]

True, but what's easier to read out if you've had a bad crash?

51.5081° N, 0.0759° W or heads.guides.hunter?

Possibly. Whenever I have to convey something to do with services or orders over the phone, I invariably have to resort to the phonetic alphabet eg foxtrot foxtrot sierra! , or whiskey tango foxtrot!

 

[urastus]

I know the guy in the current 3words advert (at least the one showing in the UK). He is an experienced outdoorsman (or whatever youd call it) and knows how to look after himself, still he ended up in a situation wherehe needed assistance and due to the weather used 3words to add detail to his location information. Im sure he could easily have used something else but this was obviously to hand and easy to communicate in bad weather. I think its a useful tool but obviously shouldn't be a replacement for actually knowing how to navigate, but lets face it most people struggle with using google maps so getting them to download and use 3words is probabaly easier than anything else.

those who struggle to navigate use google maps - it's navigation for those who don't know how to navigate (I thought)