Google offers a new geolocation system, which allows you to create a meeting point from a universal address. But the American giant is not alone in this market. What-3-Words also allows you to precisely locate any place on the planet.
The innovation of the day is a system of universal addresses. It can locate precisely any corner of the planet.
It can be very practical. Imagine: you have a date with friends in a park for a picnic. Today, it's complicated: "We are near the lake, next to a tree, in front of a bench". From now on, it will suffice to say: "See you at R7RF + CX". Everyone puts this address in their GPS. And it will very precisely locate a point in the park (in this case, near a tree, in the Citroën park next to our studios). You will agree, R7RF + CX, it's still easier to share than 48 ° north, 50 min, 27.8 sec / 2 ° east, 16 min, 29.8 sec.
And it works on any GPS?
It is a system offered by Google. So obviously, it works on Google Maps and all applications that use Google mapping services (Waze for example). But it's also free and free of rights. A priori, anyone can use it. The format is fixed at four characters, the plus sign and two letters. It's called Plus Code.
Note that Google is not alone in this field. There is also What-3-Words which uses the same principle. The globe was divided into three by three square meters. And they gave each a different name made up of three words. For the coordinates of this studio, for example, it is "stuc.moutarde.officier". Easy to remember.
It is used a lot for humanitarian missions, in India and Asia, to locate houses that have no address in the villages. So it's a great idea. Too bad there are two systems in competition.
How do we generate these new addresses?
For the three words, you go to What3Words.com. For Plus Code, it will be on Google Maps.