The subwayification of air travel is beyond mere nightmare — it’s our unavoidable future. It all started with rumors that Ryanair was to introducing “vertical seating options”; basically sacrificial stakes to which standing passengers get strapped, Joan-of-Arc style. A hoax? Maybe. But according to the Daily Mail, there’s someting far worse around the corner: forced, eye-to-eye contact. UK-based Design Q has come up with a no-joke, most anti-feng shui cabin setup of seating rows that face one other (see above). It’s what you find on military aircraft — except they’re lucky enough to be able to parachute out into a much less socially awkward war zone.

Allegedly this’ll translate into a 50 percent jump in capacity and cheaper seats. Are all the creature comforts of a rush-hour Q train extended over hours at a time really worth it? Guess that all depends on how far behind the ensuing public urination will be. Whoops, too late.