UK: A new mapping service could spell the end of the modern-day postcode. The ‘what3words’ app has divided the globe into 57 trillion 3m by 3m squares and labelled each area with just three words address to help make finding locations more accurate and memorable.
For example, the code ”limit.broom.flip” takes you to a precise spot in the centre of London”s Regents Park. The Statue of Liberty is located at ”planet.inches.most”.
The w3w pin can be moved around the Google Map and will show the code for the precise point where the pin has been placed.
Alternatively, users can search the site for landmarks or addresses to find that location”s code. Or three random words can be entered, each separated by a full stop, to find a surprise location.
Once a location has been identified it can be shared by email, Facebook, Twitter or GPS systems. What3words is available on web browsers as well through Android and iOS apps.
The London-based startup set up the site as a more accurate alternative to the current postcode, street and street number combination.
Although GPS services can already accurately pinpoint any location on Earth, the what3words service also makes it easier to remember than complicated coordinates.
”With GPS and smartphones, we have at our fingertips the ability to pinpoint precise locations,” said what3words CEO Chris Sheldrick.
”However, until what3words, we haven’t had simple, memorable universal system to easily describe locations with any degree of precision.
”We’ve devised a way to describe exact locations – anywhere in the world – in a simple and memorable way.”
Source: Daily Mail
