If the compass thing interests you, I find the North Paw (https://sensebridge.net/projects/northpaw/) much more exciting. Implants are neat, but external augments are just as good for many things.

I wonder if enhancing existing senses might end up being easier than engineering new ones, at least in the short term.

Right, while I still want X-ray vision, night vision might be more feasable.

Our body is pretty good at all the relevant stuff of our physical world :). And in the digital the interesting stuff is high-level or can be automated or removed.

I disagree, our body is pretty limited. Pretty limited field of vision and weak detection of dangerous gases and liquids, for example.

Also, flaky sensors too. My mother recently had a couple of episodes of BPPV[1], and in the process I found that a lot of people have it at some point in their lives. A friend of ours had vertigo for almost a month(!) and was absolutely incapacitated.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benign_paroxysmal_positional_v...

I nearly never encounter undetectable dangerous gases or liquids. A simple beeper or probe would do there, no need for a new sense.

Flaky sensors is something else, when a sense breaks down it makes very much sense to replace it.

What about the field of vision? As cars become quieter, I'd love to be able to "sense" one coming from behind, especially when I'm walking in rural roads with small shoulders.

I'd rather have the cars sense me, if we're that sophisticated, and skip the neurosurgery.

Enhancing the flaky sensors strikes me as easier than adding new ones, and new ways of processing them. We're not necessarily suited to more input.

Just a small magnet can give you amazing capabilities :D