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Don't we already have a system for mapping worldwide geographic coordinates? Or is this essentially an easier to read/remember version of latitude/longitude?

Don't we already have a system for mapping worldwide geographic coordinates? Or is this essentially an easier to read/remember version of latitude/longitude? I thought this would be about more clever pathfinding optimization in a part of the world where typical shortest-path optimizations are much harder.

mtmail 9y ago
I don't think I could remember 8GC2 CMXR+X6 (from the plus codes homepage) any better than latitude and longitude. Or spell that over the phone without using the NATO alphabet.
- mbesto 9y ago
  Which is why w3w is a really novel approach to this: https://what3words.com/ https://what3words.com/
  - theDoug 9y ago
    As far as I can see, this seems to be a "global solution" which only outputs English
    - jpatokal 9y ago
      No, they're already localised into 22 languages: https://support.what3words.com/hc/en-us/articles/203105501-How-many-languages-are-you-in- https://support.what3words.com/hc/en-us/articles/203105501-H... But what3words is proprietary and requires licensing, while Google's codes are open source. Disclaimer: I used to work on Google Maps, including geocoding, but not this initiative.
  - eat_veggies 9y ago
    They're private, proprietary, and online (it can decode regular three word combos offline, but the one word special locations need web access). Switching the order of words results in totally different locations. Google gave the example of "banana rabbit monkey" being in Argentina, "banana monkey rabbit" in Russia [0]. And while it's localized to more languages than just English, the friction when exchanging location data across language barriers seems problematic. For example, giving an English speaker something like "пропан.зачет.некий." in an image, spoken, or written on paper would be totally opaque and hard to even enter with a US keyboard, let alone commit to memory. [0] https://github.com/google/open-location-code/wiki/Evaluation-of-Location-Encoding-Systems#web-based-services https://github.com/google/open-location-code/wiki/Evaluation...
- telotortium 9y ago
  There are features of the plus codes that make it easier than you think to memorize and communicate them, however: - Similar to a phone number, the code can be reduced to the last 4 or 6 digits in practice, because the "area code" (in this case, "8GC2") selects a large region (approximately the size of a metropolitan area) and thus can be omitted if referring to destinations in your local area. - The letters are selected to be minimally confusable with each other, so you don't need to use the NATO alphabet.
Piskvorrr 9y ago
Coordinates are hard to get across without messing them up - any number corresponds to something in the vicinity and there's no checksum. This is supposed to be an alternative.
cdirkx 9y ago
A couple of years ago I visited a startup which also tried mapping worldwide coordinates, what3words [1]. They map 3x3m squares to a combination of three words (language customizable). For example: the Eifel tower would be at combos.cove.split. They had some clever tricks for mapping short memorable words to densly populated areas and longer ones to the middle of the ocean. Their aim was similar, to enable talking about a place without the existing infrastructure of adresses and streetnames and for example make it possible to deliver mail in slums. [1] www.what3words.com
- superlopuh 9y ago
  It's a shame that google didn't go with this approach, although I assume it's because of the lack of portability between all the languages in that area. Maybe what3words should pivot into what3emoji.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - thinkloop 9y ago
    Good point about the portability and the emojis idea is clever, but I think the main purpose was to be able to speak then easily.
- pwinnski 9y ago
  what3words is terrible technology, and also proprietary. Quick, what direction do you go to get from combos.cove.split to reindeer.steak.rules? I made up the second address, but it highlights how completely useless what3words is for directions. Worse than useless.
  - dalemyers 9y ago
    Quick, what direction do you go to get from 123 Main Street to 456 Birch Street? Quick, what direction do you go to get from 12.34567N, 12.34567W to 56.43210N, 23.87654E? Not being able to immediately determine direction between 2 addresses isn't a failing.
onetimemanytime 9y ago
The government of that state has to adopt them to be really "it". Otherwise Google can adopt X solution, Here.com Y solution, Bing Maps Z and so on. Does it matter that Google has a "solution" when the government sends me the bill at another address?
rlpb 9y ago
> Or is this essentially an easier to read/remember version of latitude/longitude? It's more like the hierarchical telephone numbering system. If you know it's local, the code can be much shorter. It doesn't need to be globally unique; just unique in the same city.

mtmail 9y ago

I don't think I could remember 8GC2 CMXR+X6 (from the plus codes homepage) any better than latitude and longitude. Or spell that over the phone without using the NATO alphabet.

mbesto 9y ago
Which is why w3w is a really novel approach to this: https://what3words.com/ https://what3words.com/
- theDoug 9y ago
  As far as I can see, this seems to be a "global solution" which only outputs English
  - jpatokal 9y ago
    No, they're already localised into 22 languages: https://support.what3words.com/hc/en-us/articles/203105501-How-many-languages-are-you-in- https://support.what3words.com/hc/en-us/articles/203105501-H... But what3words is proprietary and requires licensing, while Google's codes are open source. Disclaimer: I used to work on Google Maps, including geocoding, but not this initiative.
- eat_veggies 9y ago
  They're private, proprietary, and online (it can decode regular three word combos offline, but the one word special locations need web access). Switching the order of words results in totally different locations. Google gave the example of "banana rabbit monkey" being in Argentina, "banana monkey rabbit" in Russia [0]. And while it's localized to more languages than just English, the friction when exchanging location data across language barriers seems problematic. For example, giving an English speaker something like "пропан.зачет.некий." in an image, spoken, or written on paper would be totally opaque and hard to even enter with a US keyboard, let alone commit to memory. [0] https://github.com/google/open-location-code/wiki/Evaluation-of-Location-Encoding-Systems#web-based-services https://github.com/google/open-location-code/wiki/Evaluation...
telotortium 9y ago
There are features of the plus codes that make it easier than you think to memorize and communicate them, however: - Similar to a phone number, the code can be reduced to the last 4 or 6 digits in practice, because the "area code" (in this case, "8GC2") selects a large region (approximately the size of a metropolitan area) and thus can be omitted if referring to destinations in your local area. - The letters are selected to be minimally confusable with each other, so you don't need to use the NATO alphabet.

Piskvorrr 9y ago

Coordinates are hard to get across without messing them up - any number corresponds to something in the vicinity and there's no checksum. This is supposed to be an alternative.

cdirkx 9y ago

A couple of years ago I visited a startup which also tried mapping worldwide coordinates, what3words [1]. They map 3x3m squares to a combination of three words (language customizable). For example: the Eifel tower would be at combos.cove.split. They had some clever tricks for mapping short memorable words to densly populated areas and longer ones to the middle of the ocean. Their aim was similar, to enable talking about a place without the existing infrastructure of adresses and streetnames and for example make it possible to deliver mail in slums. [1] www.what3words.com

superlopuh 9y ago
It's a shame that google didn't go with this approach, although I assume it's because of the lack of portability between all the languages in that area. Maybe what3words should pivot into what3emoji.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- thinkloop 9y ago
  Good point about the portability and the emojis idea is clever, but I think the main purpose was to be able to speak then easily.
pwinnski 9y ago
what3words is terrible technology, and also proprietary. Quick, what direction do you go to get from combos.cove.split to reindeer.steak.rules? I made up the second address, but it highlights how completely useless what3words is for directions. Worse than useless.
- dalemyers 9y ago
  Quick, what direction do you go to get from 123 Main Street to 456 Birch Street? Quick, what direction do you go to get from 12.34567N, 12.34567W to 56.43210N, 23.87654E? Not being able to immediately determine direction between 2 addresses isn't a failing.

onetimemanytime 9y ago

The government of that state has to adopt them to be really "it". Otherwise Google can adopt X solution, Here.com Y solution, Bing Maps Z and so on. Does it matter that Google has a "solution" when the government sends me the bill at another address?

rlpb 9y ago

> Or is this essentially an easier to read/remember version of latitude/longitude? It's more like the hierarchical telephone numbering system. If you know it's local, the code can be much shorter. It doesn't need to be globally unique; just unique in the same city.