PAID RESEARCH SESSIONS IN BERLIN

Two speech studies in Berlin, paying 130 EUR each

You read sentences aloud in a room in Berlin, we record it, and you are paid by bank transfer once you have finished. The recordings go into technology that lets someone who has lost the ability to speak choose their words and hear them spoken aloud.

Spire Light runs the same sensor study twice for Altavo, once in English and once in German. Which of the two is yours is decided by the language you grew up speaking.

Mollstr. 32, 10249 Berlin, Germany130 EURTwo sessions of 2.5 hoursEnglish and German speakers

The two studies

Sensor study, in English

130 EUR, two sessions of 2.5 hours

Sensorstudie, auf Deutsch

130 €, zwei Termine à 2,5 Stunden

Start with the language you speak natively. The English study is for US English speakers with a California, Colorado, Michigan or Midwestern accent. The German study is for native German speakers, with no accent requirement.

What the recordings are for

Altavo builds speech-assistive technology for people who have lost the ability to speak, after illness, injury or surgery. Their sensors sit outside the skin and pick up the muscle movement that goes with speaking, and the recordings let a machine learn how that movement lines up with the words being said. That is the groundwork the technology is built on, and it is why each study asks for two and a half hours twice over.

The English study and the German one are the same study. They differ in the language you read in and in nothing else: the same hardware, the same room, the same two appointments, the same payment.

Neither will make a copy of your voice. Your recordings are not used to create a synthetic voice that sounds like you, and they are never used to identify or verify you. What happens to a recording is set out in full further down this page, and again on the study page you book from.

A researcher at a desk in a sound-treated room, wearing the sensor unit used in the two sessions, with recording hardware on the desk — The sensor hardware worn during both sessions. It sits on the outside of the cheek, and nothing is placed inside your mouth.

Choose a study

Both record at the same address in Berlin, pay the same, and ask the same of you. The language you speak natively decides which one is yours.

Altavo

Sensor study, in English

130 EUR

for two sessions

Two appointments of 2.5 hours each, on separate days.
You read sentences aloud while non-invasive sensors sit on the outside of your cheek.
The session is recorded in audio and video.
After booking you record a short voice sample, which takes about two minutes. Your slot is held until it has been reviewed.

Who it is for

You are a native US English speaker with a California, Colorado, Michigan or Midwestern accent, and can attend both appointments in Berlin

Your voice will not be cloned.

Sensorstudie, auf Deutsch

130 €

für beide Termine

Zwei Termine von je 2,5 Stunden, an verschiedenen Tagen.
Du liest Sätze vor, während nicht-invasive Sensoren außen an der Wange sitzen.
Die Aufnahmen erfolgen mit Bild und Ton.

Für wen

Du bist deutsche:r Muttersprachler:in und kannst zu beiden Terminen nach Berlin kommen

The same study as the English one, run in German.

Deine Stimme wird nicht geklont.

Mehr erfahren und buchen

What you are paid, and when

Sensor study, in English

130 EURAfter both sessions

Sensor study, in German

130 EURAfter both sessions

Payment is by bank transfer, in euro, after you have recorded.

The 130 EUR covers both sessions together.

It is not 130 EUR per appointment, and both appointments have to be completed before it is paid. You take part in one study, not both: the English and German studies are the same project in two languages.

What happens to your recordings

Both studies make the same promises, and each study page states them in full. You agree to them when you book.

The sessions, in English and German

The purpose is to match spoken words with cheek muscle movement, and that relationship is what the training uses.
Your voice will not be used to create a synthetic voice that sounds like you.
The sensors are non-invasive and placed externally on the cheek.
The session is recorded in audio and video.
You can ask questions before the session begins, and you can cancel or reschedule if you need to.

We are not building a voice clone of you.

The voice sample you record after booking

It is a two minute recording of three sentences, made at home on your own device, and it exists to check that your accent and your recording conditions suit the study.
It is listened to by the study review team and used for that decision only.
Your slot is held rather than confirmed until it has been reviewed, and you are emailed either way.
If it is not accepted, the slot is released and nothing is charged. It is a judgement about accent fit, not about you.
The sample is not published, not sold, and not used to build a voice that sounds like you.

The sample decides your place, not your worth.

Where the sessions are

Every appointment for both studies is recorded at the same place. You pick your date and time on the study page itself, and you get an email with the details.

Datarade, Berlin

Mollstr. 32, 10249 Berlin, Germany

Open in Google Maps Open in Apple Maps

Who is running this

Spire Light is a Danish company. We handle participant recruitment and run the recording sessions on behalf of the companies whose technology is being developed.

Altavo develops speech-assistive technology for people who have lost the ability to speak, after illness, injury or surgery. Both studies are theirs.

Questions before you book

Which of the two studies can I book?

The language you speak natively decides it. Native German speakers book the German study, which has no accent requirement. The English study is for native US English speakers with a California, Colorado, Michigan or Midwestern accent.

Do I need to live in Germany?

No. Where you live is not a condition of either study. What matters is that you can come to Mollstr. 32 in Berlin for both appointments, since that is where the recording happens.

My accent is not one of the four. Can I still take part?

Not in the English study as it stands. It is recording four American accents in fixed numbers, so a speaker outside them cannot be booked in. We run paid recording studies through the year with different requirements, so write to us and we will keep your details on file for the next one.

What is the voice sample, and why is my slot only held?

After you book, you record three sentences on your own device, which takes about two minutes. It is reviewed to confirm your accent suits the study, and your session is confirmed once it has been accepted. We email you either way. Recording it early is the surest way to keep the slot you picked.

Can I take part in both studies?

No. They are the same study run in two languages, so you take part in whichever one matches your native language.

Pick the study that fits you

Each study page carries the full detail and the dates that are still open.

English sensor study, 130 EUR Deutsche Sensorstudie, 130 €