Convert Geo Coordinates to 4 Words to Easily Share any Location: FixPhrase

FixPhrase is an interesting and wonderful open-source algorithm and word list that enables one to convert a pair of GPS coordinates to a phrase comprising of four words and vice versa. This is extremely helpful because its far more easier to deal with a bunch of words than remembering a long series of numbers with decimals.

Using this Algorithm, the application can locate any place on the Earth (OpenStreetMap) with just four words. Alternatively, you can select any location on the Map and get the unique phrase for that particular spot.

The first two words precisely locate a city, the first three pinpoint to a neighborhood in the city while all four words used together find a location as small as the corner of a house with precision.

Features:

1. Every phrase corresponds to just one point on Earth so that there is no ambiguity whatsoever.
2. Sequence of the words in the phrase doesn’t affect the output coordinates.
3. Full as well as partially worded phrases can be used to locate a place.
4. If Partial phrases are used, the accuracy goes down.
5. The first 2 words of the Phrase in the alphabetical order are adequate to locate a large city with an accuracy of 11.1 kms approximately.
6. The first 3 words are sufficient to locate a certain neighborhood with a precision of 1.1 kms.
7. If all four words of the phrase are used, then the accuracy is at least 11 meters.

How does the Algorithm Work: The following are the steps that FixPhrase uses in its Algorithm to convert a latitude and longitude into a word or phrase.

1. Take the pair of GPS Coordinates and round them to four decimal places.
2. To remove the minus sign, add 90 to the Latitude and 180 to the Longitude.
3. Remove the decimal point and left-pad the resultant number with zeroes so that Latitudes and Longitudes are 7 digits long.
4. Select the first 4 digits of each and add 2000 to the Longitude. You are now left with two 4-digit numbers that correspond to two words in the list.
5. Next, take the last 3 digits from the Latitude (for example A, B and C) and the Longitude (for example X, Y, and Z) and arrange the digits in two sets like ABC, XYZ.
6. Add 5610 and 66160 to the first and second set respectively. Look up the corresponding words in the list. You now have 4 words that represent a precise location accurate to 11 meters approximately.

To convert a phrase into Latitude and Longitude, the above process is reversed. Click here to read more about this Algorithm.

Working of FixPhrase Application:

1. Navigate to FixPhrase using the link provided at the end of this article.

2. If you already know any Fix Phrase, type it in the space provided and hit Enter. The algorithm will convert the phrase to a location that will be displayed on the map.

3. Alternatively, click and select any place on the Map and the Algorithm will calculate the unique FixPhrase for that particular spot.

To test the application, I selected a couple of places on the map and noted down their corresponding FixPhrases. I then reloaded the page and searched for those FixPhrases. The results were simply perfect which means that the Algorithm works fine.

Final Comments:

FixPhrase is an amazing application that converts GPS Coordinates of places on Earth to unique 4 letter phrases that could prove easier to remember and vice versa. This wonder is worked out by the Algorithm behind the scenes that perform all the conversions accurately using a pre-defined and tested Algorithm.

Click here to navigate to FixPhrase and spend some time with the application. You will be amazed at the working of the Algorithm.