The thing that bothers me the most with meeting apps is that each one has a different shortcut to mute the microphone or turn off the webcam. It’s hard to remember which keys do what when you’re in the middle of a meeting and trying to make a point or ask a question. I always wanted a universal physical button to mute and control the camera, something I could press without thinking. Project Mirage’s Dune, a small three-key aluminum keyboard (about the size of a piece of gum) that plugs into your MacBook’s USB-C port, does just that.

The $119 device has three buttons and switches context depending on which app you’re viewing. For example, in apps and meeting sites, you could toggle the microphone, toggle the video, and put the window in front. For Excel or Sheets, you can copy, paste and undo. For Chrome, it could be refresh, jump to the URL bar, and paste. You get the gist. Developers can also use it with apps like VS Code or GitHub to merge, approve, or close a pull request.

The startup builds each drive to match its specific Mac model, so it sits flush with the laptop with no gaps underneath. If your ports are already in use, you can connect them via a dongle. Dune has no battery and doesn’t need a separate charger – it draws power directly from the MacBook.

The startup currently supports M2 Air or later and M1 Pro or later MacBook models running macOS 15 Sequoia or later.

The device looks and feels good, but I felt like the keys had more resistance. At this time, it is easy to press a key by mistake. A few times, I mistakenly turned my camera on or off because my hand brushed against the device while reaching for a bottle of water or a cup of coffee. It shouldn’t be that easy to press a key.

Dune comes with a companion app to set up shortcuts, either per app or system-wide. Within a given app, you can assign a Dune key to a keyboard shortcut, command, or link that opens an app or URL.

Through the app, Dune also syncs with your calendar and shows your next meeting a few minutes before it starts, so you can join, close, or send an “I’m late” message with a single tap.

If you want deeper customization, you can write and run your own Python script. If you don’t code, Dune integrates easily with Claude Desktop: you describe the shortcut you want in plain language, and Claude types it out and maps it to a key for that app; no manual configuration required.

I created a shortcut that, whenever I’m on a startup’s website, shows a brief summary about the company: its competitors, investors, and questions I might ask if I book a meeting with them. For anyone whose job involves evaluating companies quickly – investors, founders, operators – it’s a task tailor-made for Dune. I also created one that converts images to JPEG so I can quickly upload them to WordPress or social platforms. Both were easy to build and required no manual configuration, although getting a shortcut fully working still requires some back-and-forth with Claude, including debugging once you actually run it.

The app also has a marketplace, from where you can explore skills created by other Dune owners. If the market takes off, it could become the core of Dune’s growth and retention strategy: hardware as a thin interface to a Claude-powered skills ecosystem, where each new skill gives owners another reason to stick around.

However, at the moment, skills are limited. Additionally, there is no way to test a skill without assigning it to the hardware button; Ideally, the app would allow you to preview a skill before assigning it to hardware. The startup also needs to proactively add more suggested skills for different applications to its users.

The Project Mirage device sells for $149 after its introductory price expires, and is a solid pick for anyone interested in productivity. MuteMe covers mute/unmute only, and Stream Deck offers business-focused macros, but Dune is easier to customize in both hardware and software.