Project Mirage launches Dune, a context-aware keypad for MacBook users

Project Mirage has launched Dune, a MacBook keypad with three programmable keys that change function depending on the app in the foreground. The San Francisco and Bangalore startup connects the device through USB-C and pairs it with companion software that updates the keys automatically as users move between meetings, code editors and AI tools.

In meeting apps and sites, Dune can shift into a mic toggle, camera toggle and a shortcut that brings the meeting window to the front. It also syncs with a calendar, surfaces the meeting link two minutes before a call, and lets one key join directly while another sends a running-late email to attendees. Its companion app shows the current function of all three keys in the bottom-left corner of the screen, so the layout changes without forcing users to relearn a static control panel.

Dune is built to cut down on context switching and free up shortcuts that are already occupied inside macOS and individual apps. Beyond meetings, the keypad works across GitHub, VS Code and Claude, with support for custom scripts, URLs, macros and agentic workflows. The setup flow can be handled through Claude as a conversational interface, letting users describe what they want instead of wiring every action manually.

Apoorv Shankar, the founder and chief executive of Project Mirage, says the familiar QWERTY keyboard was designed more than a century ago for text entry, not for the multitasking-heavy workflows that now define many Mac users' days. That mismatch is part of why AI adoption can feel clunky: the software stack has changed quickly, while the hardware still assumes a different era of work. Dune is meant to answer that gap with a physical interface that turns repetitive, multi-step actions into one press.

Project Mirage's team has spent more than eight years building consumer hardware and has been working on AI interfaces for months. Before narrowing in on Dune, the company showed three experimental interfaces at CES earlier in 2026. Dune is aimed at developers, business professionals and anyone who wants to build their own workflows.