HumanSignal

Now casting in Hoboken, NJ · Paid research study

Get paid $75/hour
to improvise everyday scenes

HumanSignal is recruiting improv performers, voice actors, and live entertainers in Hoboken and across the NYC metro area. You'll perform unscripted household scenes while talking with a voice assistant, helping researchers study how AI understands real human behavior.

Your recordings stay private and are never used to clone your face or voice.

A woman folds a towel behind a cream couch with a laundry basket, a video camera recording, and one plant on the coffee table in a bright warehouse studio.
Performers improvise everyday tasks, like cooking and folding laundry, in a staged home.

Pay

$75 / hour All sessions, including your first training session, are paid at $75/hour. Paid within a week.

Schedule

Sessions Weekdays, evenings, and weekends through November 2026. After your first training session, the team can offer eight-hour sessions or day rates.

Location

Hoboken, NJ In-person recording at a local studio. Address shared with booked performers. Transit or mileage may be covered if you're coming from outside New Jersey.

Residencies

40 hours/week Performers who stand out in their sessions may be invited to a residency for 40 hours/week. Residencies are by invitation based on performance and reliability, not guaranteed.
Minimal line-art map of Hoboken and the Hudson River waterfront.

How recordings are used

This is a research study

Before any recording, every participant signs a plain-language research agreement that states exactly how recordings are used. You can ask us anything about it before you commit.

Three conversational video moments of the same Black performer in glasses holding a cellphone in one hand at a clean kitchen island against a plain white wall.

Research to improve AI

Recordings are used for research to develop and improve AI and machine learning technology.

Separate consent for promotion

We won't use your name, image, likeness, or voice to advertise, market, or promote any product or service without your separate written consent.

Recordings stay private

Recordings are not shared publicly.

No face or voice cloning

Recordings are not used to clone your face or voice or to create synthetic media of you.

This project · Requirements

Who we're looking for

  • 18 or older
  • Based in or near Hoboken, NJ, or elsewhere in the NYC metro area
  • Improv or performance experience at any level, including classes, student troupes, community theatre, open mics, voice work, or live entertainment. Aspiring and amateur performers are encouraged to apply.
  • Comfortable being recorded on camera and audio for a full session
  • Reliable and on time for scheduled sessions

We welcome performers of all backgrounds. A wide range of voices, speech patterns, and physical presence makes the research more representative of the real world.

This project · Work types

What the work looks like

A performer talks with a technician in black who helps prepare her microphone on a bright living room set.

You'll perform everyday household tasks, like cooking, tidying, and folding laundry, in a staged home. As you work, you talk with a voice assistant. Nothing is scripted: you respond in the moment, change course, ask questions, and react the way people do at home.

Depending on casting, you'll play the person doing the task or voice the assistant. Each session covers several scenes, with the task and setting changing so researchers can see a wide range of natural behavior.

If you can hold a scene, think on your feet, and move and talk naturally without a script, you can do this work.

This project · Next steps

How it works

  1. 1

    Apply

    Share your contact details and a link to your work.
  2. 2

    Screening call

    We'll reach out to schedule a 15-minute call on Zoom or Google Meet.
  3. 3

    Book a session

    If you're a fit, choose an in-person session time. Evenings and weekends are available.
  4. 4

    Perform and get paid

    Payment arrives within a week. Book more sessions if you'd like.

Project FAQ

Project notes

Do I need professional acting experience?

No. Improv or performance experience at any level counts, from classes and student troupes to open mics and voice work. We talk through fit on the screening call.

How does pay work?

You earn $75/hour for all sessions, including your first training session. Payment arrives within a week of your session. Final terms are confirmed before recording.

What happens in my first session?

Your first session is training, paid at the same $75/hour rate. You'll begin with table reads, then work toward recording at least one scene during the training session.

Are longer sessions or day rates available?

After your first training session, the team can offer eight-hour sessions or day rates if you'd prefer a longer day to make the commute worthwhile.

I live in New York. Can I apply?

Yes. Performers across the NYC metro area are welcome. Public transit or mileage may be covered if you're traveling from outside New Jersey.

Can I book more than one session?

Yes. Sessions run through November 2026, and you can book one or many.

Ready when you are

Sessions are booking now through November

Apply with a link to your work and we'll reach out to schedule a 15-minute screening call.

Apply now
The same couple laugh while folding an orange shirt and a towel on a living room set, seen from another angle.