TECHNOLOGY FINDING PEOPLE AND PLACES
Around 80% of calls
at festivals are to say: “Where are you?” The What3Words app makes the answer very simple
“Where are you?”“I’m at ‘
crashing.toys.massaged’”
Need to find a friend among the crowd at T in the Park this summer? A new app will lead you to their exact location
BY WILLIAM PEAKIN P
utting on a festival can be like creating a small town, with its associ- ated infrastructure; food, housing, sanitation - and
entertainment. But festivals happen where there are no streets, no ad- dresses and no postcodes. Finding your tent, your friends,
a particular food stall, can be prob- lematic. It is particularly difficult where
NOW A NEW app - What3Words - allows organisers, vendors, per- formers and festival-goers to share and find important locations eas- ily. It is based on the allocation of unique identifiers to the 57 trillion 3m-by-3m squares that make up the earth’s surface. Te app is the brainchild of Chris
Sheldrick, who spent 10 years in the music business managing events around the world. He was constant- ly faced with suppliers not finding
38 | EVENTSBASE | MARCH 2016
“WHAT3WORDS PRESENTS A COMPLETELY NEW APPROACH TO ADDRESSING”
Alan Moore, chief executive, thinkWhere
there is limited and congested phone and data reception. Around 80% of calls at festivals are to say: “Where are you?” or “Where shall I meet you?” In emergencies, using landmarks and directing first aid responders to: “Te third tree on the left of the stage if you are facing it,” is less than ideal.
site entrances and bands losing their way between hotel and venue. Sheldrick tried using precise GPS
co-ordinates instead of addresses, but their complexity proved too much for people. Determined to find a solution, he worked with a mathematician friend on an algo- rithm that replaces GPS
co-ordinates with three-word combinations that people can easily understand and memorise. It uses 40,000 words to generate
the 57 trillion three-word variations required. Offensive and similar sounding words (such as to, too and two) have been eliminated. Open the app and it will show your precise location in the form of three words, which you can share with friends or anyone who needs your location. Te organisers of Glastonbury deployed it last year to distribute equipment around the site and for first aid response. Te charity Festival Medical Services (FMS) used it coordinate its team of medical staff and emergency responders. A high-resolution satellite image
was captured on the first morning of the festival and a grid overlay
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