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One example of cross-cultural interactions spawning innovation was the invention of the lateen sail. It is a triangle-shaped sail invented and mainly used by Arab sailors (also Europeans) along on the Indian Ocean. The reason this sail was so groundbreaking was because older square-shaped sails could only move in one direction with the wind, while the lateen could move in any.

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Along with the lateen sail came ship innovations. There were 3 main ships: The Carrack, Caravel, and Flyut.

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The Carrack was a 150 feet ship, used mainly for trade, that was primarily used in Portugal in the 14th-17th centuries. It used square and lateen sails.

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The Caravel, used by the Portuguese and Spanish from the 15th-17th centuries, was a 75 ft ship used for long voyages in quick time. It used lateen sails, which were mainly used by Arab sailors.

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The Flyut was an 80 ft Dutch ship used for trade in the 16th-17th centuries.

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Another example of interactions between cultures causing innovation in the compass. The compass is the primary direction finding device. Discovered in the 12th century by China and Europe, it uses either magnets or a gyroscope (a Muslim invention) to find direction. The magnets in the compass work with Earth's magnetic field. Since the magnetic field runs parallel with Earth's vertical axis, the magnets follow whichever direction you're facing.

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Astronomical charts, which are maps of stars and galaxies, were one of the improvements in cartography that bettered navigation. Prior to the invention of the compass, these were mariners' main source of direction finding. The existence of astronomical charts date way back to the 2nd millennium BCE in Babylonia and Mesopotamia, but were also seen throughout late years with Chinese and Greek astronomers.