Continuing the mini-trend of posts that have nothing to do with the software development industry...
The HydroOptix dive mask seems like an excellent idea: instead of a flat piece of glass, the mask is fronted with what underwater photographers refer to as a “dome port,” eliminating refraction and providing a dramatically better field of view that traditional masks.
The admitted downside of this is that you need to focus just a few inches from your eye to see this (essentially, you focus on a “virtual image” on the inside of the mask). But, it so happens that the needed myopia matches my prescription of -4.5 perfectly, so for me, I just take my glasses off, put the mask on, stumble my way towards the big blue blur, and the instant I'm in the water, Bob's my uncle.
The optics are excellent. You get a massive improvement in peripheral vision and if the water is clear, it translates into a noticeably improved vista underwater. Unfortunately, as a mask, the product just plain sucks. It has a tiny skirt and seals onto my honestly-not-abnormal nose so tightly that I literally could not equalize mask squeeze without using my hand to loosen the mask. And everytime I did that, the mask leaked. And since the mask has a huge volume and purge valves, clearing it requires an obscene amount of air.
Yesterday, I tried freediving with the HydroOptix. Horrible. Just absolutely worthless. I couldn't descend past 20', I wasted my lungs clearing it, and on those few occasions I did get to a decent depth, when I ascended the air in the mask expanded, cracked the seal, and once again, the mask flooded.
Worst, a pod of spinner dolphins swam by. Tina dropped down to 40' and hung out while the dolphins swam right past her. I had to bounce along the surface, watching them cruise by beneath.