I had a thought some time ago, which I think originates from me randomly thinking of Xidnaf again. For those who don't know, his is a now-dormant YouTube channel that covered various topics in linguistics, and one of these was (probably~) Directionality in the Australian Aboriginal languages. See, while everyone else we know of has at least two ways to express direction - one relative to objects, one relative to the entire earth - Aborigines only have the latter, meaning they have to constantly keep mind of the direction they're facing.
Obviously, this creates problems in the modern world. Sure, we have GPS and smartphones today, but it's not ideal for the hypothetical traveler to need to check her compass all the time.
I wondered, what if it weren't like that? What if train cars were equipped with compasses from the early days of industry, and we made gyros cheap and wrist-mountable by the 20th century? Better yet, what if the landing to a staircase, or the exit to an elevator were adorned with compasslike patterns inlaid into the floor? Then even the poorest citizens could orient themselves with just a quick glance at their feet.
I found it an interesting thought, at least. Might incorporate it into my stories someday, perhaps an ace pilot from a shattered people... ✨
