Three words to take you anywhere in Tokyo: S.RIDE partners with location technology company what3words

TOKYO, Oct. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Minnano Taxi Corporation announces its partnership with what3words - the location technology company disrupting the way that people get around. The groundbreaking partnership will enable taxi passengers to enter a 3 word address for their drop-off location, meaning they will no longer have to enter long and complex traditional addresses. Three words are now all they need.

what3words has divided the world into a grid of 3m x 3m squares and given each a unique 3 word address made of three words.

Moving around Tokyo will now be simpler than ever before, and drivers will no longer have to search for the correct drop-off locations. Whether it's a specific door, shopping mall entrance, street corner or park gate, allowing taxi passengers to enter 3 word addresses will enable the fastest possible route planning. The S.RIDE experience will also be more convenient for taxi passengers, who often spend time directing drivers to exact destinations.

Since launching earlier this year, S.RIDE has been offering end-users a simple, smart and speedy way to navigate the city, tapping into Tokyo's largest network of taxis. Using the latest in technology, including AI to forecast demand, S.RIDE is continually embracing the technology of tomorrow and bringing it to its taxi passengers.

what3words solves many of the frustrations that surround inaccurate and inconsistent addressing. Pins that drop in the middle of the building make it hard to know which is the correct drop-off point, mistakes can be easy to make when typing a full address, and often POI's can return multiple results. what3words' built-in AutoSuggest feature uses error prevention to suggest the correct 3 word address, even if your search contained typos or other mistakes. what3words input will be available in the S.RIDE app in both Japanese and English.

"S.RIDE is providing an incredible service to Tokyo. It's fast, convenient and its UI makes it easy to use. The addition of what3words will now make that experience even better, as taxi passengers will know they're arriving at precisely the correct location, without the need for adding step-by-step directions," adds Chris Sheldrick, CEO and co-founder of what3words.

"We are delighted to have an alliance with what3words, which is a unique and brilliant location service. S.RIDE will be much more convenient for taxi passengers to input only three words for a destination," added Kenji Nishiura, president and CEO of Minnano Taxi corporation.

In 2018, the Sony Innovation Fund announced it had backed what3words. Since then, businesses and individuals have been quick to embrace the technology in Japan and the rest of the world.

Notes to editor

Find your 3 word address here.

Co-founded in London in 2013 by Chris Sheldrick, what3words is the simplest way to talk about location. The system covers the entire world, never needs updating, and works offline. A 3 word address is a human-friendly way to share very precise locations with other people, or to input them into platforms and machines such as autonomous cars or e-commerce checkouts. It is optimised for voice input and contains built-in error prevention to immediately identify and correct input mistakes.

The free what3words app, available for iOS and Android, and the online map enable people to find, share and navigate to 3 word addresses in 37 languages to date. A 3 word addresses in one language can be switched instantly into any other supported language, and even looked up in one language and shared in another. what3words can be easily integrated by businesses, governments and NGOs into apps, platforms or websites, with just a few lines of code, and products are available for free or for a nominal fee for qualifying NGOs. Its partners include Mercedes-Benz, Tata Motors, Kakao Maps, Ford, Domino's Pizza, Lonely Planet, Airbnb and Cabify.

what3words has a team of over 100 people, across offices in London UK, San-Francisco USA, Johannesburg ZA and Ulaanbaatar Mongolia. The company has raised over £40 million in capital from investors such as Intel, Aramex, Deutsche Bahn, SAIC and the Sony Investment Fund.

SOURCE what3words; Sony Innovation Fund