A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how we get there
~ Jon Postel
Names may change, addresses may get erased, and routes altered or realigned, but geocoded coordinates usually stay the same. This is the power of location technology. What3words is a geocode system designed to identify any location with a resolution of about 3 meters. Founded in 2013 in UK, it has a global footprint today and is at the forefront of new innovations in positioning and navigation.
The company has a partnership with big Indian brands such as Tata and TVS. The recent funding from Brand Capital will further enable it to expand its presence in the rapidly growing Indian market. Some of its other logistics partners in India are Shipyaari, Vamaship and Sequel Logistics.
“India is an incredibly exciting market for us. It’s a country that welcomes breakthrough and innovative technology. We are continuing to speak to Indian automakers, OEMs, and logistics companies so that What3words becomes an everyday part of their businesses and platforms”, says Chris Sheldrick, CEO & co-founder, What3words.
The company has a rather long-standing association with India. It’s working across social sectors as well, including with an Indian company called Pollinator Energy to deliver solar-powered lights to inaccessible areas.
“We showcased the power of What3words addresses to the former UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, at the India-UK Tech Summit in New Delhi. Mrs. May searched for 10 Downing Street’s What3words address,” says Chris.
As per the Financial Times, more than 85% of British emergency services use What3words, including the Metropolitan Police and London Fire Brigade.
Recently, the company provided its services to the Maharashtra Government’s emergency medical ambulance services MEMS Dial 108 that enables faster incident response times in case of emergencies.
Innovation is always on the mind of What3words, and its voice capability is peerless in accuracy and reliability. “We are the first addressing system optimized for voice. Speaking a street address into a voice interface can be time consuming and frustrating. Mistakes are easy to make and hard to spot. For instance, Lawn Road and Lorne Road sound the same,” says Chris.
What3words is used across the world in a multitude of different ways by emergency services, automakers, logistics providers, on-demand food delivery services and on e-commerce check-out pages.
“We want to streamline processes for people all over the world whether it’s to navigate to a hidden gem without a street address or postcode, or to meet a friend in a busy park.”
“If you can’t pronounce the address, you’re out of luck: street addresses use thousands of non-dictionary words so the pronunciation can be near impossible to guess. And finally, house names and road names aren’t unique – meaning that your navigation system could end up directing you to the wrong place entirely.”
What3words eliminates these issues, and its technology has been built into in-car navigation systems for optimized voice input by some of the world’s leading automakers including Lotus, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, TVS Motor Company, Tata Motors, and Triumph motorcycles.
It recently released an end-to-end speech recognition and post-processing Voice API powered by Speechmatics. It means that What3words voice search can be built into apps, tools, and services more easily. “The integration offers machine learning capabilities that enable new What3words languages to be built on demand – unlocking the potential of voice devices for more people across the globe.”
With increasing salience and primacy of location and data analytics, technology is evolving at a hyper-fast pace leading to smart autonomy and connected mobility. At the same time, the need of proper addressing is increasing for a seamless user experience or unmatched product delivery.
“Some of the most technologically advanced businesses have been swift to adopt What3words. Royal Mail, UK’s postal service, joined forces with DronePrep, Skyports, and What3words to become the first nationwide UK parcel carrier to deliver a parcel via an unmanned aerial vehicle (a drone). We hope to see more traction in the autonomous vehicle space as it evolves.”
Demand for Increased accuracy furthers advances in map data. Over the last few years, there have been a lot of technological advances to provide accurate and precise location information. The precision of location data continues to improve, particularly in areas where GPS signals might be unreliable.
“AR and VR are primarily visual technologies, which means there is a need to provide human-friendly precise locations or voice interfaces – something What3words is perfectly placed for. The potential to layer between virtual and physical worlds in AR creates a need for a way to speak around location, especially in a global way. AR together with visual location services gives accurate location information data and identifies specific locations with increased precision and granularity. Enabling people, for example, to find the correct entrance to a building, or an exact spot in a large park or field.”
These days AI applications are also increasingly being used in combination with crowdsourcing to increase the richness of geodata: labelling businesses, street numbers and providing an additional layer of detail and accuracy.
Increase in customer expectations for bespoke products & services coupled with hyper-localization, real-time info and disruptive models are some enduring takeaways from the realm of business and tech, and geospatial and location tech is at the kernel of fast-paced digitalization and automation.
“Precise and reliable location data is critical to the business models of future-facing disruptors. This will become more and more apparent as we continue to shift into a world that’s increasingly dependent on technology.
We are already seeing the need for excellent location data in today’s digital age. Take on-demand food delivery as an example – having accurate addressing data is a crucial part of getting food delivered to the correct destination, in under an hour, and piping hot. For the ride hailing industry ability to provide a destination or pick-up spot accurate to a 3 meter square saves time, improves customer experience, and enhances productivity.”
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a massive disruption, rupture, and dislocation across sectors which compelled us to revisit various fundamentals and embark on the overdue process of making systems more durable and resilient. Location can play a critical role in incorporating resilience.
“The pandemic posed a unique challenge to the logistics and supply chains industries, requiring rerouting and rethinking of traditional processes. With What3words, deliveries to unfamiliar locations are timely and efficient. In a world of social distancing, they can be contactless too – as couriers know exactly where they need to go.”
Over 120 emergency services control centers accept What3words addresses to locate people in need across the UK, USA, Canada, Germany, India, South Africa and Australia. A simple link can be sent by the operator to the caller by text, allowing the caller to discover and share the precise What3words address for emergency response.
“What3words system works entirely offline, so it can be used in remote or poorly addressed locations and in areas with unreliable data connection. What3words addresses can be written down, communicated over the phone or shared via a messaging service. Our technology is also available in 50 languages and can be used all over the world.”
We have designed a product that is both innovative and sustainable. What3words is a scalable solution for the whole planet, says Chris.
“Better and more accurate addressing can reduce businesses’ environmental impact, ease pressure on crowded cities, fuel economic growth in developing nations and, in some cases, save lives.”
When a customer provides a What3words address, the accuracy of the location information is instantly improved. Instead of a destination spanning hundreds of meters, couriers can now be routed to a 3-meter square. “With this incredibly precise location information, businesses can better optimize routes, find customers first time, and cut out the inefficiencies that create surplus emissions.”
The long-term goal of What3words is to be an addressing system that is globally recognized. “We want everyone in the world – in cities, on remote islands and even in tents on the Mongolian plains – to have a simple and reliable address that can be used anytime.”
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