What Three Words

[TeeDee]

Just wondering who here now uses What Three Words ?

Anyone have it installed

///daring.lion.race

This is the what3words address for a 3 metre square location near London.

what3words.com

 

[Broch]

I really worry about this app. I have it installed and when I have checked it at various locations the words that are used would not be easy to understand with bad reception or in windy conditions etc. To be sure the person on the other end understood you would have to use the phonetic alphabet - how many people actually know that well enough to use it reliably? It would also take a while to spell the words out.

For example: tend.plea.stays - or was that send.flea.says (which is on the other side of the world)

In the UK we have a much better system using the free app OS Locate - map reference (two letters so much easier to get across followed by six numbers).

I'm just not convinced to be honest.

 

[TeeDee]

Broch made some good points.

And as no-one else has chipped in I'm going to guess not many of us have the App installed to use it in the first place , and as we are a more Outdoorsy cross section of society ( I'd hazard a guess we are more likely to explore such things ) then the chances of the General Population knowing and using it seem slim at best.

 

[Stew]

It has been pushed as a thing for a while in outdoor pursuits with a growing trend of people using it. I know of a mountain rescue team that have had issues with the location given not matching where the person was with some quite significant difference in location.

it’s been handy for me to locate a small exact point on a river and also parking spots between friends when a general bit of info wasn’t accurate enough. Largely we use apple maps or google maps though.

 

[TLM]

We have an APP that phones the general alarm number when the button is pushed it also sends the GPS coordinates via text message. Apparently works fairly well, just that you have to have SatNav on.

 

[TeeDee]

We have an APP that phones the general alarm number when the button is pushed it also sends the GPS coordinates via text message. Apparently works fairly well, just that you have to have SatNav on.

The name of the App?

 

[TLM]

I think it is "112 Suomi", as far as I know it only works in Finland but there is probably no reason why it could not be made available in a larger area.

I assume that in most families at least one member has it loaded.

 

[lou1661]

I have it installed, as at work we have been finding more people using it and none of our mapping equipment is compatible with it. Seems ok. Do I think an OS grid reference is better? Yes, but do I always have an OS map with me? Most people have there phone. It is a handy bit of tech.

 

[TLM]

My younger brother works for the company that keeps it up, I'll have to ask him what it requires.

 

[Broch]

I have it installed, as at work we have been finding more people using it and none of our mapping equipment is compatible with it. Seems ok. Do I think an OS grid reference is better? Yes, but do I always have an OS map with me? Most people have there phone. It is a handy bit of tech.

Yes but the Ordnance Survey app is free and gives a grid reference without needing a map - it also give your elevation.

OS Maps app | Digital map app

Official OS Maps app: accurate, up-to-date routes for running, hiking, cycling and walking! Detailed maps on your phone, desktop or tablet

shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

 

[lou1661]

Yes but the Ordnance Survey app is free and gives a grid reference without needing a map - it also give your elevation.

OS Maps app | Digital map app

Official OS Maps app: accurate, up-to-date routes for running, hiking, cycling and walking! Detailed maps on your phone, desktop or tablet

shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

As I said, I only have it installed as it is sometimes the only location information that is provided, the OS app does look good. However the what three words app seems to be marketed much more!

 

[Duggie Bravo]

I have the app, we discuss it with the Scouts.
Have you seen the TV add?
The chap who rings for help is on the shoreline in a Canoe, the square highlighted isn’t..


Sent using Tapatalk

 

[Broch]

I have the app, we discuss it with the Scouts.
Have you seen the TV add?
The chap who rings for help is on the shoreline in a Canoe, the square highlighted isn’t..


Sent using Tapatalk

QED

 

[Hammock_man]

I also have played with this App / idea. The idea of a low skill user being able to text 3 words and inform folk of their position down to 3Metre is compelling. HOWEVER .... with autocorrect on so many phones I would suggest the ability for errors to creep in is, I would suggest, very high. So you task the user to take more care, then using that added care could they not then just quote the OS map Ref?
I am not for a moment saying this is a solution to a non existent problem but I am also not of the belief that it is a "Cure All"
How do I cut and paste my OS ref from my sat nav phone app into my text app. If you KNOW how fine but if you are unsure, throw in an element of panic and failure looms large. Remembering 3 words and then saying them over the phone seems so very much easier.
My main concern is if I say Tim Buck one when I mean Tim Buck Two, places me way farther away then just the wrong side of a fence!

 

[TeeDee]

My main concern is if I say Tim Buck one when I mean Tim Buck Two, places me way farther away then just the wrong side of a fence!

Good point.

 

[gra_farmer]

My company uses people safe, it monitors you all the time, so if you lay down for more than 10mins, the alarm is triggered, it is linked to every employee in the company (>900 people) and emergency services, and it takes around 15 minutes response time for someone to get to you once the alarm is triggered.

While you are waiting there is someone on the phone or fob talking to you all the time, and they can override your phone to see you and activate the device you are using.

Very big brother, but have a zero death rate for employees at my work and it is high risk.

 

[TeeDee]

Very big brother, but have a zero death rate for employees at my work and it is high risk.

Its 2020....Lets not tempt things shall we.

 

[gra_farmer]

Its 2020....Lets not tempt things shall we.

True.....

 

[TLM]

OK, now you have slightly lost me, what is the problem? Knowing where you are on a map or reporting it? I have three map APPs on my phone, MAPS.ME, ORUXMAPS and a local map comparing to you OS. The first two use various versions of OPENSTREETMAP though ORUX can use others like GARMIN. The local is based on a 1:20000 map covering all of Finland. I also have a GNSS APP that shows me 4 NavSat system satellites aloft and also what satellites it is using for position at the moment, also position (3D), speed and all the sensors on the phone (so far I have not invented a use for magflux as the accuracy is not enough for predicting auroras).

 

[Broch]

That's a good question TLM.

I thought all we wanted was to be able to give the emergency services (or others) an accurate location so they can find us - and that's what 'What 3 Words' does but, in my opinion, with risk because of misunderstanding of the words. However, the ability to send the words via a messaging service helps a lot. The mapping it provides, if we wanted to use it to help us navigate, is poor - it uses Google maps etc. so no terrain information but at least it shows you where you are. I can find no way of linking it to terrain maps.

OS Locate does exactly the same but uses the Ordnance Survey six figure map coordinates. It will also send the coordinates directly to someone else via messaging. It gives direct access to the Ordnance Survey maps if you have them loaded so can be used for personal navigation as well. I have the whole of the UK at 1:25,000 scale.