Smart Location Encoding Systems
I was just reading about Google silently rolling out a new addressing system called “plus codes”. So I dug in a little bit and here I am summarizing some good-to-know elements of two smart location encoding systems, which I recently heard of: the one of What3Words and the Google´s Plus Codes.
Starting with some Geodesy 101: Every location on earth has a global address, which is given as two numbers called coordinates. The latitude (South to North with a range between -90 and+90 deg) and the longitude (West to East with a range between -180 and +180 deg). They usually look something like that: (39°19´33.3768"N, 0°18´4.2732"W). Numbers are good but that´s more than 20 digits of information, so in order to ease administrative tasks and support the provision of services such as mail delivery, street names (aka odonyms) and numbers were introduced.
But what happens in unmapped areas or areas without defined street names? Sure lat/lon coordinates could work, however they are long and prone to errors.
What3Words came up with a simple and precise way to communicate location, by dividing the world in 3m x 3m squares and assigning each one a unique 3 word address. Practically speaking, that´s still an address, however not bounded to any road network. And it seems easier to memorise! Have a look at the example below:
What is the w3w address of this location? admiral.stretches.refinements! Or, if you prefer coordinates, that´s 39°19´33.3768"N, 0°18´4.2732"W. However, if you do the mistake to change the order of the words e.g. admiral.refinements.stretches then you will find yourself in the middle of Russia. The 3 word addressing system can be very useful in case of emergency response operations, where communicating location can be critical. The company has initially started with English words only, but they are continuously including more languages. Have a look on their website for more.
Engineers in Google saw the potential. Four years ago they set up an open-source project called Open Location Code. According to their GitHub webpage:
Open Location Code is a technology that gives a way of encoding location into a form that is easier to use than latitude and longitude. The codes generated are called plus codes, as their distinguishing attribute is that they include a “+” character.
Plus codes give addresses to everyone, everywhere, allowing them to receive deliveries, access emergency services, register to vote — and more.
Remember the beach you just saw located in What3Words? The one located at admiral.stretches.refinements? Here it is using Plus Codes:
I also should mention that Indian users have a dedicated smart address system called Zippr, composed of four characters and four numbers. Addresses in India can be very complex and understanding and communicating location is a challenge.
As I was about to publish this, I discovered also Mapcodes, a location encoding system developed by Pieter Geelen and Harold Goddijn (the co-founders of Tom Tom). Mapcodes have a format which looks like that: “ESP 2RV.9X3”. This address will point you directly to the Spanish beach we saw before using the other two systems. Obviously, there are pros and cons using any of the aforementioned systems and there are many useful applications. Plus Codes and Mapcodes are free to use and the technology (for the case of Plus Codes) was open-sourced. What3Words, on the other hand, provide a 3-word address system, which is obviously easier to memorize.
Have a look on their websites if you like the idea. It might be useful for your next trip to Africa :)
