This app accurately pinpoints your location with three random words – and it has saved lives

When Jess Tinsley and her friends called up emergency services after they got lost in a forest, the dispatcher told her to download an app.

Not just any app. But an app that would eventually save their lives through precise geotagging and three randomly chosen words.

How?

The app is what3words, which segments locations around the world through squares. 57 trillion of them to be exact, each measuring 3m by 3m. These squares are then assigned a unique, randomly chosen three-word address.

For example, the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia are assigned with the words "squeezed.than.desire".

According to company founder Chris Sheldrick, the app was inspired by the postal-problems in Hertfordshire where he grew up.

"Our postcode did not point to our house. We got used to getting post meant for other people, or having to stand in the road to flag down delivery drivers," Sheldrick told BBC.

The frustration only grew when he worked in the music industry where he constantly met with problems of getting musicians and bands to meet at specific spots at venues.

"I tried to get people to use longitude and latitude but that never caught on. It got me thinking, how can you compress 16 digits into something much more user friendly?"

Sheldrick spoked to a mathematician and to his surprise, there were enough combinations of three words for every location in the world.

The geotagging is so precise that Tinsley and her group were found by the rescue team minutes after she downloaded the app.

"I have told everyone I know to download this app. You never know when you are going to get lost and need it," she said.

While what3words is undoubtedly a god-sent for emergency aid and services, countries businesses can also use it for different purposes. Mongolia has adopted what3words for its postal service while German automobile giant Mercedes-Benz has included its system into its cars.

Lonely Planet's guides have also adopted what3words for easier navigation around points of interest around Mongolia.

Know more about what3words here.

Cover image sourced from what3words.