| Overall, this looks pretty interesting, assuming your goal is to communicate physical locations with an accuracy of a couple of meters using a format that fits on a business card. It can also be used without country names, if you prefer it that way (just select "International" when generating the code.) Developer downloads here: http://www.mapcode.com/downloads.html?iso3=112&mapcode=49.4V This is patented, with an ISO standard in progress, and the following licensing terms (from their developer page): The mapcode algorithms and data tables may not be
altered in any way that would result in the production
of different (and thus incompatible) mapcodes. The
mapcode algorithms and data tables may not be used in
any way to generate a different system that produces
codes to represent locations. In order to prevent
misuse, unauthorised alterations, copying or commercial
exploitation, please note that the ideas and algorithms
behind the mapcode system have been patented and that
the term "mapcode" is a registered trademark of the
Stichting Mapcode Foundation.
Part of the motivation is the lack of usable postcodes in many countries:Unfortunately, a large part of the world population has no address. In India alone, well over half a billion people live in houses that have no street name. They play some interesting tricks with population density and country "contexts" to shorten codes: 4. People live within a “country context”. Addresses seldom include a country name. Unless clearly stated otherwise, they can safely be assumed to be in “this” country. Codes that are known to be within a particular territory can be designed to be much shorter. 6. Short codes are reserved for areas where the population density is high. |