21 May 2025
Research Professor Emeritus Peter Auster led a development project to demonstrate the utility of a "presenter helmet" and integrated oxygen rebreather to engage audiences with video recorded directly from environments of interest. The novel helmet allows an expressive human face and voice rich in excitement, in contrast to standard helmets and full-face masks.

The field test was conducted from the RV Weicker in a shallow seagrass meadow off Avery Point. The project was funded by CT SeaGrant with vessel support from the CT National Estuarine Research Reserve. Mike Lombardi from Lombardi Undersea LLC designed and built the helmet, rebreather, and submersible video "studio" complete with voice from the helmet. Associate Professor Jason Krumholz from the CT Reserve also dove the helmet and collected multiple video segments for posting over the web. The potential for “live dives” with a host on the seafloor is a possibility in the future.