Speed-boat. Overdid. Cameos
Those three words helped the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) to find a woman who lost at night at the Walter Bean Trail in Cambridge, Ontario, earlier this month.
The woman was using the What3words application, which uses a technology that can identify someone’s location within three square meters.
First he called 911, but he could not give his location. She downloaded What3words Ltd. Application, through which the police sent a link. When she clicks him, the officers could identify their location with those three words.
WRPS 911 Jon Chessum dispatcher said the application has been used by communicators and officers for five years due to its effectiveness.
While Chessum could not give too many details about the case of Cambridge’s lost woman, he said that application and technology around what 3words result in “one of the simplest ways to talk about the location.”
Now, the Thesso and the Police remind the residents of the Waterloo region to use the application “Help in emergency situations and that makes people help faster.”
Lost in the dark, but not for a long time.
A woman who lost at night on the Walter Bean path in Cambridge was located safely after a WRPS communicator sent him a link from the @what3words Application When she clicks on him, the officers were able to identify their location to this 3M square … pic.twitter.com/O2WQKZJ2FO
‘A grid especially’
Jane Stephenson, What3words Marketing Director, described the application as a “grid worldwide, divided into squares of three by three meters.”
“Each square has a direction of three random words. So I am talking to you today from our office, where the entrance [words are] Filling, Conte, soap, “he said.
What3words is a navigation technology based in the United Kingdom created 10 years ago by Chris Sheldrick, who had the idea after being constantly lost or not being able to find friends while attending music festivals.
According to the company’s website, it was initially created to relieve “festival attendees and travelers to delivery drivers, postal event and services organizers”, but emergency services have used more and more.
To create technology, Sheldrick enlisted the mathematician Mohan Ganesalingam and translation expert Jack Waley-Con to create a three-words direction algorithm.
The application is for free use, it only charges companies to integrate technology into their own products or systems.
“It’s fascinating, the stories we hear every day about different cases,” Stephenson said.
He pointed out that he has seen the application used in the United Kingdom when an 18 -foot python released in the field. She believes that versatility is what makes it so popular, even for career groups, for hiking, to ensure that critical suppliers reach the right part of a warehouse. “
Peter Johnson is an associate professor of geography and environmental management at the University of Waterloo in southern Ontario.
Johnson said that the use of the police application is an “case of interesting use … and something that their business model is moving.”
“I also wonder why the 911 operator could not have made a ping to his phone and then transmitted the [latitude and longitude] To the police? “He also said in an email to CBC News.
However, Johnson acknowledged that traditional coordinates and addresses may not be of great use in more rural areas without municipal management. Chessum, with WRP, said that is often the case.
Chessum said that the only time they see problems with the application is that someone in an emergency situation continues to move from the location after asking for help.
What3words is used in 193 different countries and translates into 60 languages. Stephenson attributes the growing use of application to its accessibility and accessibility.
Chessum said the WRP recommend using and knowing the application if you are going to walk, to a festival or for any other emergency in which a loved one may need to know its location.
