The Pruto Mesh Networking Puck Offers Hands-Free Noise-Canceled Communications in the Wilderness

Communications startup Pruto has launched a crowdfunding campaign designed to "reimagine" outdoor chat — using a wearable "click-and-connect" hands-free puck design.

"As a young company, we are a group of passionate engineers and designers who are also fans of sports, especially outdoor sports," says Pruto's Deborah Browne. "We believe that spending time with friends, playing sports, and going on outdoor excursions can create the most beautiful memories in life and we want to make the trip more convenient and easier for you and your friends. That’s why we created Pruto."

Designed in a rounded puck shape — a deliberate shift from earlier design prototypes, Browne explains, in order to eliminate hard edges — the Pruto puck is designed to be wearable: It can be attached to goggle straps, bag straps, belts, handlebars, or worn directly via a wrist strap. Setup is designed to be simple: Bring two or more Prutos together, click their central button, and they're paired.

Once paired, the pucks form a mesh network with, the project's creators claim, support for up to 50 devices and a 2,500-foot range. Voice messages can be broadcast to the entire group, or sent to a single other device for one-to-one chats.

Inside the puck housing, which is rated IPX7 for water and dust resistance, is a 4,000mAh battery good for 12 hours of use or 72 hours in standby mode and taking three hours to charge from empty, six noise-canceling microphones, an additional high-frequency microphone, and a single built in speaker — plus a bright LED light. A Bluetooth 5.0 radio offers compatibility with external speakers or headphones, though these aren't required to use the device.

The Pruto is now funding on Kickstarter, with physical rewards starting at $99 a pair for early-bird backers, a claimed 38 percent discount off the devices' eventual $159 retail price.