what3words - Brochure - 10 page - Oct 2015

stylish.hardware.preheatedCappadocia, Turkey

“INSPIRING, INCREDIBLE... WHAT3WORDS PRESENTS HUGE EFFICIENCY OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESSES.”

Arvind Sodhani, Intel Executive Vice President and President of Intel Capital

CONTENTS

02

03

04

06

06

08

14

14

17

3 WORDS TO CHANGE THE WORLD

ISN’T THE WORLD ADDRESSED ALREADY?

OUR TECHNOLOGY

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY SHIFTS

BUSINESS MODEL

FEATURED USE CASES

BEHIND THE IDEA

INVESTORS, AWARDS & COVERAGE

CONTACT

Page 01 / 17what3words | Addressing the world

what3words is a global addressing system based on

a grid of 57 trillion 3mx3m squares.

Each square has been allocated a unique, fixed 3

word address.

Our algorithm turns latitude and longitude

coordinate pairs into these 3 words and vice-versa.

Words are easier to remember and use than any

other available system.

We have our own app and web service but also

provide an API and SDKs for businesses and

developers to integrate our technology.

Around the world individuals, companies and

organisations are using it to enhance their own

products and services with simple and precise

addressing.

With what3words everyone and everywhere now

has a simple address.

3 WORDS TO CHANGE THE WORLD

51.498262,-0.218533

=

Frustrating & costly

Around 75% of the world - over 135 countries - suffer from inconsistent, complicated or no addressing systems. In the other 25% of countries address systems don’t offer universal coverage and are often inaccurate. This costs economies billions.

50% of people who currently live in cities don’t have an address. In the recent US Census a massive 12% of households don’t actually have good location information and only 11% of Australia is accurately addressed.

Poor addressing means friends are not met, remote assets are difficult to manage, aid can’t get to the people who need it most, deliveries are missed and local businesses can’t be found. 25% of RAC Western Australia call outs are to unaddressed locations.

At best, poor addressing is costly and annoying, at worst it hampers the growth and development of nations around the world.

Poor addressing and imprecise geocoding means last mile delivery is problematic and costs 28% of overall delivery costs. UPS estimates that saving each of their drivers one mile equates to a $50

million a year saving for the business. In the UK 0.5% of all deliveries fail due to poor addressing (IMRG).

Satnavs and GPS devices can give you 4 possible routes to get “there”, with state of the art traffic avoidance and points of interest along the route. But defining “there” is actually our single biggest issue.

Addressing for the 21st Century

The geospatial industry is worth an estimated $150bn annually. Yet there is no precise global address or location reference system that can be used easily by everyone.

Huge advances have been made in mapping and navigation technology, but the central part of the experience – identifying a specific location – has not evolved.

Around the world, street addressing is irregular and incomplete; finding an address and communicating it to others is still an imperfect science. Whilst GPS coordinates, with their two sets of 8 to 10 digits, are accurate and universal, they are unwieldy to use and prone to significant errors in transcription and communication.

ISN’T THE WORLD ADDRESSED ALREADY?

avoiding.howling.snowballsOleiros, Portugal

Page 03 / 17Page 02 / 17 what3words | Addressing the worldwhat3words | Addressing the world

Words beat numbers and letters

Using words means non-technical people can find any location accurately and communicate it more quickly, more easily and with less ambiguity than any other system like street addresses, postcodes, latitude & longitude or mobile short-links.

People’s ability to immediately remember 3 words is near perfect whilst their ability to remember the 16 numbers, decimal points and N/S/E/W prefixes, that are required to define the same location using lat,long is zero.

In everyone’s language

We have rolled out our 3 word address system in 11 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, German, Italian, Turkish, Swedish, Swahili and Arabic with Danish, Norwegian, Greek and Polish on the way.

The 3 word address in one language is not a translation of the 3 words used in a different language version.

OUR TECHNOLOGY

Short and easy words

Each what3words language is powered by a wordlist of 25,000 - 40,000 dictionary words. The wordlists go through multiple automated and human processes before being sorted by an algorithm that takes into account word length, distinctiveness, frequency, and ease of spelling and pronunciation.

Offensive words and homophones (sale & sail) have been removed. Simpler, more common words are allocated to more populated areas and the longest words are used in less populated areas.

Voice

We are excited to be working on voice input, which means that anyone can say a 3 word location and it will be recognized. We feel this is of particular importance for in car navigation, given the ambiguity of multiple streets with the same name and poor geocoding that drops pins in the centre of buildings rather than at their entrances.

Tiny algorithm The what3words system works via an algorithm as opposed to a database, meaning that the what3words core technology is contained within a file around 10MB in size, as opposed to what would otherwise have been an unmanageably large c. 20,000TB database. One major benefit to the tiny size is that the what3words technology can comfortably fit in a modern smartphone using negligible disk space.

Human-friendly yet precise

Latitude and longitude is the basis for our system. 3 word addresses convert directly to lat,long and vice-versa.

Lat,long is great for computers and should always be used at the back end but what3words is useful when people are involved: either people-to-people, people-to-device or device-to-people. what3words can revolutionise the human side of the experience for everyone.

crush.green.hilltop

ocurrirá.dijera.humanitaria

ректорат.домовой.настенный

uçtun.acıkıyorlardı.kanalına

entwurf.anzubringende.choreografin

découler.rafraîchissement.inconséquence

macinate.sufficientemente.esteriori

Digits

JM Journal of Psychology; Jan 1, 1957“A Comparison of Immediate Memory Span for Digits, letter and Words”

Department of Psychology, Miami UniversityC.W.Crannell & J.M.Parrish

Letters

Words

IMMEDIATE MEMORY SPAN FOR DIGITS, LETTERS & WORDS

what3wordsgazed.across.like

AlphanumericNAM JPM5 F3Z

Lat,Long51° 29’ 53.743” N 0° 13’ 6.718” W

NUMBER OF ITEMS IN LIST

2

0

25

50

75

100

3 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

PERC

ENT

CORR

ECT

AutoSuggest

what3words is intentionally non-sequential and non-hierarchical. By shuffling similar-sounding 3 word addresses far away from each other when we designed our algorithm, it enables us to offer a robust autosuggest tool, both in our app and API.

When searching for a 3 word location, before you press enter, the app will make some clever suggestions about what it thinks you meant, even if your search contains typos or other mistakes. You can select to display locations near you or anywhere in the world.

AutoSuggest works by looking at what you have typed and matching it to nearby, valid 3 word addresses.

As some of the AutoSuggest results are distance weighted, the system will nearly always be able to work out what you meant, even if you made several typing errors.

Offline capability

what3words functions without a data connection. This solves a perpetual constraint when in remote areas with poor connectivity.

Fixed and universal

The what3words system is fixed and it is impossible to change it. There is 100% certainty that all instances of the system running everywhere in the world will provide the same 3 word address for the same location.

One uniform word-based system for everyone eliminates the confusion caused by multiple conflicting numeric and alphanumeric codes.

You can choose the 3 word language that we display 3 word addresses to you in, but you never have to tell us what language you are inputting the 3 word addresses in: we will recognise the language automatically.

Independent technical evaluation

“what3words is an innovative hybrid geo-referencing system that uses words rather than numbers or alphanumeric codes to accurately reference any location on the surface of the earth.

The system is non-hierarchical because all the units referenced are the same size, there is no need to interpret the code to know what size of area is being referenced, it is always the same.

The system is also non-topological - the three

words used to reference any square on the earth’s surface are not dependent on the three words to reference any of the adjacent squares.

This makes what3words one of the cleanest and simplest geographical references to understand. No other geographical referencing system offers such clean simplicity of concept.”

Robert Barr OBE

Professor of Geography, Manchester University

table.chair.lamps

table.chair.lamp

Government

Commerce

Utilities

Aid

MappingNavigation

Logistics

Recreation

Tourism

Residential

Emergency g�h�i�j�k�m�n

�

o�p�q


BUSINESS MODEL

A key ingredient for businesses

what3words is a plug-in for businesses and individuals to add simple and precise addressing to their own products and services.

This can:

• Improve customer experience for mapping/navigation/tourism/travel

• Drive efficiencies for delivery and logistics companies

• Enable growth for ecommerce• Improve and help save lives for governments,

NGOs and charitable organisations.

Doing business and doing good

The business model is based around charging for access to the API or SDKs and we are signing commercial agreements with clients, partners and distributors.

what3words will always be free for individuals to use on their own site and apps. We also intend to support fair and equitable use. We employ a structure that provides qualifying organisations, including humanitarian and not-for-profit entities, with a range of free and discounted usage plans.

Our API, SDKs, code libraries and examples are all available on developer.what3words.com.

LOCATION AT THE CENTRE OF GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY SHIFTS

Simpler location input by voice and text into

smartphones, wearables, IoT, cars.

International location sharing: being able to

reference and access any location in the world in your

own language.

UAVs (drones): business <> consumer

interaction.

Business <> consumer location sharing for the logistics business as the

industry moves into an on-demand, global marketplace.

Location sharing in 3D / indoor.

TRAVEL AND TOURISM

Travel and Tourism

Many of the most interesting, beautiful and fun places in the world don’t have an address. From the best picnic spot in a national park to the hidden entrance for a local bar, the most interesting journeys are about discovering hidden gems, but not about getting lost.

The travel and tourism industries rely on accurate and efficient communication of location everywhere in the world; language is a huge barrier when travelling and phone data can be expensive. Travellers therefore often struggle to find their way around, and tourism and travel businesses suffer when their customers get lost. Major guidebooks often have GPS coordinates for most locations but choose not to print them, as coordinates are not user-friendly. Accurately typing in an address in an unfamiliar language or an eighteen-digit GPS coordinate is tricky and error-prone – and the last thing a traveller needs is to end up in the wrong place. For adventurers who want to discover unusual and remote locations, what3words technology is the ideal solution.

Travel Guides and Listings

Locations of poorly signposted and rural areas are now much simpler for travellers to find and share, while tourist & travel agencies can display accurate, useful information to help customers plan their trips.

Hotels, bars and restaurants can provide the 3m x 3m square of their front door, or the entrance to their car park, while retailers can rest assured that travellers who have booked airport transfers or activities won’t be left stranded when they can’t find a meeting point.

3 word addresses can then be shared easily using our simple technology (which is free for use in travel listings) - in printed and online travel guides, in travel listing sites, and on social media. And with our simple batch conversion tool, whole datasets of co-ordinates can be converted to 3 word addresses in minutes.

Travel Tools

Businesses are building in what3words technology to help consumers on their journeys; applications can use what3words to make sure door-to-door means exactly that. For example:

• Offline mapping and routing apps enable users to navigate simply when abroad without using any data, knowing the 3 word addresses they’re using are highly accurate.

• Tourism apps and guides enable visitors to find addresses of every location, even remote and rural ones, in their own language.

• Public transit apps find the most efficient routes between two specific points.

• Travel planning apps display three word addresses for every itinerary item.

• Booking apps provide 3 word addresses in email and app confirmations.

• Airport parking and transfer apps store and display 3 word addresses so finding your car is simpler than ever.

• Taxi apps build 3 word addressing in so that wherever you are in the world, you know you can catch a ride.

As indoor navigation improves, navigating around airports, meeting your driver at arrivals and finding your baggage will be easier than ever using 3 word addressing.

scales.exhibitions.boothsTwin Sisters Peak, Colorado


FEATURED CASE STUDIES

ArcGIS by Esri

The world’s leading global geographic information software company, Esri, has made what3words available across its ArcGIS platform. Esri is used by more than 350,000 businesses, government agencies and NGOs around the world, who between them create some 150 million new maps every day.

The locator allows ArcGIS platform users to display the 3 word address for any location or search for a 3 word address, either individually or via batch conversion to and from coordinates. The what3words locator can be configured at an organization level, whatever the ArcGIS deployment model, so that any roles and users can access it across the entire ArcGIS platform.

QGIS by Boundless

Boundless, in partnership with what3words, have released a what3words QGIS plugin. QGIS users can now benefit from the what3words award-winning solution for simpler location reference. The plugin, accessing the what3words locator, allows QGIS users to display the 3 word address for any location or search for a 3 word address, either individually or via batch conversion to and from coordinates.

MapTrip by Infoware

Infoware, creator of professional navigation tools to organisations including BMW, Volkswagen and DHL, have taken their knowledge helping large organisations and created the award winning MapTrip android app to empower individuals with the same intelligence. With what3words integration, points of interest with no street address such as parks, solar installations, telephones exchanges or street furniture, can now be found.

FME by Safe Sofware

FME is the world’s leading spatial data transformation technology and is the “go-to” software for anyone working with multiple data formats. It provides a graphical user interface and pre-built tools that allow geographical data to be integrated and transformed. FME now allows seamless conversion between 3 word addresses to and from a host of specialist geographic systems.

Navmii

26 million Navmii users can now navigate using a simple 3 word address. Navmii is the developer of world-class GPS navigation applications and location technologies.

The company is headquartered in London UK, with offices in San Francisco and St Petersburg, Russia. With 26 million users worldwide and a global community of over 850,000 contributors constantly striving to improve map data, Navmii is fast becoming the top choice for offline navigation.

The what3words geocoder for ArcGIS users to display the 3 word address for any location or search for a 3 word address, either individually or via batch conversion to and from coordinates.

Navmii displays the 3 word address on its offline maps with one touch on the map screen, as well as accepting 3 word addresses within the search window.


Norgeskart by Kartverket

The Norwegian Mapping Authority (Kartverket) bears nationwide responsibility for geographical information, operates the national property registry and undertakes all property registration in Norway. Users of the online mapping platform can now discover and search for 3 word addresses allowing the wide range of users access to precise and easily communicated location references.

TripGo

TripGo is the only true multi-modal transit app that combines both any public and any private transport mode into one trip. Whether you’re cycling, walking, taking the bus or the underground (or all of them) you can get from A to Z, and everywhere in between, simply and easily.

TripGo has integrated what3words to help people travel smarter, so you can enter 3 word address for start and destination points. It means you can meet friends for a picnic at hurt.sock.piano in Hyde Park – and TripGo can plan the fastest route there.

Mapillary

Mapillary is a crowdsourced street view service currently with 32,545,850 photos covering 822,409,885 metres. With what3words support, 3 word addresses can be searched and are automatically tagged to photos. Access to what3words through the Mapillary API is also available.

Pocket Earth

Targeted at travellers and hikers, PocketEarth’s apps offer global travel guides and offline maps for every adventure. You can search and navigate to 3 word addresses around the world, and display the 3 word address for every location instead of GPS coordinates.

A Hedonist’s Guide

Travel is all about discovering new places and getting new experiences. A Hedonist’s Guide is a high-end travel guide and magazine exploring the best hotels, restaurants, bars, cafes, clubs, sights, shops and spas in 50 cities around the world. To ensure their travellers get to enjoy these places A Hedonist’s Guide have added 3 word addresses to every destination they list.

Finds.org by The British Museum

Finds.org.uk is an online database of over a million objects found in the UK, operated by the British Museum. Funded by the Government’s Department for Culture, its aim is to record not only what is found but where it was discovered via its network of 37 Finds Liaison Officers. By integrating what3words into the site these finds now have precise 3 word addresses.

POCKETEARTH

Kartverket, Norway’s national mapping agency, has integrated what3words into their detailed online map, Norgestkart.no.

PocketEarth’s apps offer global travel guides and offline maps for every adventure, coupled with search and discovery of 3 word addresses around the world.


Festival Medical Services

Festival Medical Services is a medical charity and a leading provider of high-quality event medical services. They also offer responder training and their medical teams support some of Europe’s largest events. Last year FMS trialled what3words to coordinate their team of medical staff and emergency responders and were able to respond to incidents in a more timely manner identifying exact location within seconds.

USAID

The USAID Rwanda Mission has a number of programmes including the Global Health Initiative, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the President’s Malaria Initiative, Feed the Future and Global Climate Change.

Collecting reliable & accurate location information for each project helps the Mission to better monitor results, improve aid effectiveness and coordination as well as enhance transparency and social accountability. The use of what3words helps achieve this.

MetCom

The Metropolitan Area Communications Center (MetCom) provides 911 fire and EMS dispatch services for 6 fire departments across the Denver metro area. One of the keys to a fast response and citizens’ safety is knowing exactly where fire hydrants are and what condition they are in. MetCom maintains over 57,000 hydrants within their SDE Database. To avoid errors and inaccuracies, MetCom now use what3words within their EMS asset management system.

Tensing

Where’s the emergency? This is one of the key questions that a control room dispatcher asks when responding to an 112 (Dutch emergency number) call. Every second counts when deploying a response and communicating location simply & easily is critical. Historically this has been challenging but Tensing and what3words now have a solution.

Bluelight

BlueLight is an app that uses GPS positioning to help people feel safer on the go. It lets friends and family follow a user’s trips, and in the case of emergency, connects them to the fastest help at their location. It will immediately provide the caller’s 3 word address to any dispatcher in its network.

Grupo Carteiro Amigo

11.5 million people live in over 1000 favelas on the outskirts of numerous Brazilian cities. These settlements of jerry-built shacks have limited public delivery services and no official maps or addresses. As the income of the inhabitants increases and the rise of ecommerce in the country continues, Carteiro Amigo and what3words are working together to change that.

FMS trialled what3words to coordinate their team of medical staff and emergency responders and were able to respond to incidents in a more timely manner.

Grupo Carteiro Amigo are using what3words to enable the delivery of packages to the 11.5 million residents of Rio’s favelas.

Page 13 / 17what3words | Addressing the worldPage 12 / 17 what3words | Addressing the world

Founded in March 2013, the company is now 12 people and has received $6M of funding over the past 24 months.

gov.uk/ukti

Pen y Fan Brecon Beacons

Getting lost in music

Originally from the music industry, what3words CEO Chris Sheldrick spent 10 years organising live music events around the world and constantly faced huge logistical frustrations that came with poor addressing.

Seeking a solution to the often error prone and difficult to use lat,long coordinates that his company had resorted to using, he spoke with an

academic mathematician friend regarding the use of words instead. The friend immediately said he could help solve the problem and wrote an early version of the algorithm on the back on an envelope.

The company was founded by the pair plus two friends in London in March 2013. what3words released their own app and site in July 2013 and since then technical developments have followed rapidly. Now 12 people, the company has received $6M of funding over the past 24 months.

BEHIND THE IDEA

RECOGNITION

INVESTORS

“British company what3words has given every 3m² in the world an address, using a unique combination of three words. For world-leading innovation, choose the UK.”


CONTACT

index.home.raft

213 Westbourne Studios,242 Acklam Road,

London.W10 5JJ

[email protected]

index.home.raftBayswater, London

Page 17 / 17what3words | Addressing the worldPage 16 / 17what3words | Addressing the world

what3words.com | map.what3words.com | ⚙ developer.what3words.com