what3words, an innovative location solution provider, just announced its new Voice API, powered by Speechmatics. what3words has divided the world into three-meter squares, with each square represented by a unique set of three individual words (e.g. the three-word identifier for the what3words headquarters is filled-count-soap). By using a three-word identifier, duplicative and mispronounced street addresses are eliminated.
"[The what3words Voice API is] the ideal solution for apps and services that want to enable simple address entry via voice, without the speech recognition ambiguity associated with address search through traditional ASR systems--duplicate names, for example," Chris Sheldrick, what3words CEO, recently commented.
what3words has now partnered with Speechmatics to bring what3words functionality to third-party apps through its Voice API. Once integrated, an app user can say three words into the app and the app can call the what3words address and corresponding GPS coordinates. Speechmatics' speech recognition and machine learning capabilities handle the speech recognition side of the integration.
At launch, the what3words Voice API supports Arabic, English, German, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and Spanish. The Voice API adds to what3words' existing API that can be used to convert any three-word address to GPS coordinates and vice versa. Public documentation is not currently available. Those interested in using the API should reach out to the what3words sales team.