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Transcript/ScriptGPS WORDS
HEADLINE: LogOn: App Users Can Share Precise Location by Saying 3 Simple Words
TEASER: What3Words, an app that uses GPS, is currently available in 50 languages
PUBLISHED AT: 02/14/2023 11am
BYLINE: Genia Dulot
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE:
VIDEOGRAPHER: Genia Dulot
PRODUCER: Genia Dulot
SCRIPT EDITORS: Michelle Quinn, Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Skype, What3Words
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO _X_
TRT: 1:56
VID APPROVED BY: MAS (email Jan. 12)
TYPE: TVPKG))
((INTRO)) [[GPS coordinates are used worldwide to identify a precise location on Earth, but they can be difficult for people to use day to day. This British company has developed an app that allows users to share their GPS coordinates by saying three simple words. Genia Dulot reports.]]
((NARRATOR))
“Sugars. Bumpy. Chairs.” This is where Kevin Daly, assistant general manager of Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, is this day.
The coliseum has started to promote an app called What3Words to help visitors find each other. Created in 2013 by a British firm, What3Words allows users to share their precise GPS location in three words.
[[For Radio: Kevin Daly.]]
((Kevin Daly, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum))
“If you are out on a concourse, or the concession stand, you want to meet outside the coliseum, you can use that, and it’s a really easy way to copy, paste or send it, or even tell someone on a phone, ‘In what3words, I am at.’”
((NARRATOR)) ((Courtesy: What3Words))
What3Words divides the surface of the planet into 57 trillion 3-square-meter boxes. An algorithm assigns each a unique three-word combination in 50 languages.
[[For Radio: Giles Rhys Jones is chief marketing officer with What3Words.]]
((Giles Rhys Jones, What3Words)) ((Source: VOA))
“It’s like a shortcut to a GPS coordinate.”
((NARRATOR))
((Courtesy: What3Words))
Many automakers are installing What3Words in their latest models. Public safety agencies are telling the public to use it for emergencies.
Although the app is free, some people have raised concerns that a for-profit private company is running what’s fast becoming a crucial public service.
[[For Radio: Andrew Tierney is a cybersecurity consultant. He spoke to VOA over Skype]]
((Andrew Tierney, Cybersecurity Consultant)) ((Skype))
“The problem with What3Words is making a mistake. It’s not transparent what actually happens…. If you literally add a letter “s” in the end of one of the words, you can end up as little as 20 meters away… You could end up on the other side of the world.”
((NARRATOR))
The company says it is working to minimize the chance for mistakes. And it needs to be a proprietary, closed system to charge businesses, it says, and have resources needed to operate the service.
((NARRATOR))
While What3Words is still a long way from full adoption, it may one day become how people everywhere tell others where they are.
((Genia Dulot, for VOA News, Los Angeles))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateFebruary 14, 2023 17:03 EST
Byline
((Genia Dulot, for VOA News, Los Angeles))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
