Innovative technology company, what3words, has today announced that it has been added to the HARMAN Ignite Store, a connected vehicle platform for automakers to develop, manage and operate their own in-vehicle app store.
The collaboration allows automakers to offer what3words as an in-car navigation feature. Millions of drivers in enabled vehicles will now have the ability to get directions to any precise three metre location, using just three words.
what3words is an easy way to talk about location. It has divided the globe into 57 trillion 10ft x 10ft squares and given each one a unique combination of 3 words: a what3words address.
For example, ///notion.mindset.pulling points to an exact 10ft square that offers a beautiful view of Cold Mountain, Yosemite. what3words provides a really simple way for people to communicate locations where street addresses often fail, such as specific building entrances, parking spots, electric vehicle charge points and unmarked roads.
By connecting consumers to their favourite content, HARMAN Ignite Store helps to create a rich and intuitive driving experience, and navigation is no exception. With voice accuracy, what3words addresses can be entered directly into car head units or a connected drivers’ app by either text or voice just like a regular street address or point of interest.
However, unlike regular street addresses, which are often duplicated, every what3words address is unique, helping to minimise errors and get drivers exactly where they want to go.
The HARMAN Ignite Store optimises the driving experience by enabling access to a comprehensive ecosystem of cloud-based applications and services. This allows automakers, dealers and service providers to introduce, easily deploy and manage new cloud applications and services to meet the safety, convenience, information, and entertainment needs of customers around the world.
The marketplace includes media content, point-of-interest solutions, messaging applications and a voice assistant designed for the vehicle, all of which are all available on the HARMAN Ignite Cloud Platform.
Albert Jordan, VP of HARMAN Ignite Store business unit at HARMAN commented: “Traditionally, it has been very challenging for third-party app developers to offer compelling automotive applications. It’s an arduous process with different requirements for every OEM.
HARMAN Ignite Store is changing that, allowing innovative app providers like what3words to focus on their content and functionality. By handling the process work on the back end, HARMAN Ignite Store enables app providers to easily and seamlessly launch and, over time, update their applications with multiple OEMs.
“We’re very excited about this collaboration – both for the next-level navigation capabilities that what3words will bring to drivers, and for the insight that the what3words team has provided on how we can help app developers succeed in the automotive space.”
Chris Sheldrick, CEO and co-founder of what3words, addsed “HARMAN is highly regarded for bringing innovative in-car experiences to market. Our partnership will help to fulfil an increasing demand from automakers and mobility services looking to offer drivers a better, more seamless navigation experience. With what3words now available on the HARMAN Ignite cloud platform, our addressing technology can be deployed easily and effectively in millions of vehicles around the world.”
what3words’ technology has been adopted by global car companies, logistics providers and mobility apps, including Mercedes-Benz, Tata Motors, Lotus, Ford, Addison Lee, Hermes and Cabify. The what3words app is free to download for both iOS and Android and works offline in multiple languages – making it ideal for use in areas with an unreliable data connection. what3words is also available on browsers via an online map.
