Offroading is one of the most fun tasks that a petrolhead can do. It brings about a sense of adventure and it allows you to test what your vehicle is capable of. However, it can be a dangerous endeavor as well. One of its dangerous aspects is when you lose your path in an unchartered territory. This is where What 3 Words comes in.
This is a mapping system that favors offroad vehicles. Land Rover recently unveiled their Land Rover Defender 130 which features the technology. It is a way to make your expeditions a lot safer as compared to when you rely on standard maps. But Land Rover cars aren’t the only vehicles with this service. Other companies have also picked it up.
So, let’s take a gander at the service and which companies feature it on their off-roaders.
New Offroad Mapping Tech on Land Rovers
It was announced this week that Land Rover, a subsidiary of Jaguar, is adding a highly popular mapping tech to its vehicles. Known as what3words, it is a system designed to be especially useful for off-roading vehicles. You will find this technology in their latest models – the new Land Rover Defender and Discovery SUVs.
Land Rover vehicles have a reputation for their ruggedness, luxury and off-roading abilities. The latter is especially important considering that these vehicles have a great reputation for being dirt eating machines. Today’s Land Rovers employ all sorts of offroad systems and the What 3 Words maps will be a fine addition to them.
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Let’s talk a bit about the technology in question.
What 3 Words – How does it work?
This is a company that designs maps for everyday use. Their special focus is on making maps that are highly precise. These maps work by dividing the world into blocks of 3m x 3m. As expected from the sheer size of the globe, there are countless blocks, with each having a unique 3-word combination. This is what gives the system its name.
The setup is used by many industries – all of them which need to depend on a useful map interface. This means that it is of use to everyone from your town’s pizza delivery service, to your favorite e-commerce company. It is also very useful for emergency service providers. In fact, about a 100 emergency services in the UK utilize it.
Why would YOU use What 3 Words?
With the influx of free mapping services available today such as Google Maps, why would what3words be so sought out in the market? Well, the major reason is how accurate it is. It is also a different type of service as it is for effectively communicating the exact location in your mind with a friend or your car’s voice navigation system.
At the same time, it is not as complicated as your regular GPS. You can expect a lot of accuracy from many GPS services as well. However, using a selection of three words instead of entering a bunch of weird coordinates is much more preferrable. Also, the UI offered by W3W is much more friendly to users.
This means that it is super-effective for offroading purposes. Offroading can be lethal if you get lost and it is a concept where your exact location matters a lot if you need help or you’re meeting someone on the trail. This is why so many carmakers (Mercedes, Ford, Tesla, Subaru, etc.) are using this new interface.
How do you use What 3 Words?
Using the service is pretty easy despite its nature sounding complicated. Take its voice command system for example, all you have to do is select the feature and say the three words that you’d like to set as your destination. Then you just need to select the most suitable result for you. Then it’ll scan the result you’ve chosen and guide you there.
Even if you don’t have the service on your vehicle, you just need to access it via the official app. It is completely free for all users unless you want it as a feature for your company – then you’ll have to pay for it, but this doesn’t apply to most people reading this.
The bottom line is that the system is particularly useful when it comes to offroading. It’ll work for you even if you’re stuck somewhere in the middle of the ocean.