---
title: 'Intern - Animator and Rigging Artist at Human Computer Lab'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/intern-animator-and-rigging-artist-human-computer-lab-san-francisco-1f9hfxwggdaj'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-04'
---

# Intern - Animator and Rigging Artist at Human Computer Lab

- **Company:** Human Computer Lab
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** internship
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-08-15
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-04
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/human-computer-lab/6f3e8185-eb3a-42c3-b8c4-1c2837d5e9e1

## Job description

Human Computer Lab is a research lab building character robots that feel alive and responsive. Our first robot, LeLamp, explores a new category of consumer robotics where everyday objects become interactive and help us reshape our attachment to technology.

Our goal is to push the frontier of human-robot interaction by making technology more legible, emotionally intuitive, and human-centered. We are building the foundation for a new generation of robots designed for everyday environments.

What to expect

We're looking for a technical animator to rig LeLamp, our first robot, and own the animation pipeline that brings it to life on physical hardware people will actually live with. This role sits at an unusual intersection: the technical depth to build a rig that maps onto real joint constraints and actuator limits, and the creative sensibility to design motion that feels intentional and warm, shaping whether the robot comes across as alive or mechanical. You'll work closely with the CEO and engineers to translate design intent into motion that runs on the robot itself, not just in a viewport.

In this role, you will:

- Build and maintain the robot rig, defining joint hierarchies, constraints, and control structures aligned with hardware limits
- Design and animate behaviors including idle motion, reactions, transitions, gestures, and interaction sequences
- Work with controls and firmware engineers to translate animation intent into real robot motion
- Stay aligned with mechanical updates and maintain the rig as the platform evolves
- Maintain a URDF-compatible or simulation-ready representation of the robot
- Help define the robot’s motion language and expressive vocabulary
- Build internal tools, workflows, and documentation for the animation pipeline
- Evaluate animations on physical hardware and iterate until intent translates reliably

You may be a good fit if you:

- Have professional experience as a technical animator or rigger with a strong rigging and animation portfolio
- Are fluent in Maya, Blender, or similar DCC tools and can build production-quality rigs from scratch
- Understand animation principles such as timing, weight, anticipation, and follow-through
- Have experience rigging mechanical or non-organic subjects with real-world constraints
- Have strong intuition for what makes motion feel alive rather than mechanical
- Are comfortable building pipelines in environments where they don’t yet exist
- Have experience animating robots, mechanical characters, or non-humanoid subjects
- Have exposure to procedural animation, motion graphs, or behavior trees
- Are familiar with URDF, ROS, or simulators such as Gazebo, MuJoCo, or Isaac Sim
- Have experience working in Unity, Unreal, or other real-time animation environments
- Have experience collaborating with engineering teams on hardware or robotics projects

You will be a strong fit, if you:

- Care deeply about motion as a form of communication
- See constraints like joint limits and actuator bandwidth as part of the creative process
- Take ownership of the robot’s motion language from keyframe to hardware execution
- Work well in small, collaborative teams across animation, engineering, and design
- Want to create motion for a physical object that lives in someone’s home, not just on a screen

The early team becomes the DNA of the company. We set ourselves and others to a high standard, and we respond with kindness when things get hard but keep everyone accountable. This requires us to be curious, creative, and diverse in our thinking and approach.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and consider all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. Even if you don’t meet every single requirement, we encourage you to apply. Studies show that women and underrepresented groups often hold back unless they meet 100% of the criteria - we don’t want that to be the reason we miss out on great talent.

## About Human Computer Lab

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Human Computer Lab is a research and experimentation lab focused on researching and building expressive robots that reshape human attachment to technology.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Pre-seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: Newark, Delaware, United States (with presence in Canada)
- **Founded**: Not publicly available
- **Founders**: Shahvir Sarkary (Founder, CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Robotics, Human-Computer Interaction, Research Services
- **Target customers**: B2C (early adopters, hobbyists, artists, roboticists) and potentially B2B (research partners)
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "Human–computer research and experimentation lab, focused on researching and building expressive robots."

## Products & Services
- **[LeLamp](https://www.lelamp.com/)**: An emotional and expressive robot designed to reshape human attachment to technology. Pre-orders are currently open. The product aims to make building a robot feel like assembling IKEA furniture.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding – Pre-seed round led by FR8 and South Park Commons (announced September 2025)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: FR8, South Park Commons
- **Growth Signals**: Active hiring for multiple roles (Controls Engineer, ML Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Interns); growing social media presence and hosting community events (Demo Faires, artist-roboticist collectives); monthly LinkedIn follower growth of ~7.8%

## Competitive Advantages
- **Unique focus on emotional expressiveness**: LeLamp is positioned as a robot that conveys emotion and personality, differentiating it from utilitarian or industrial robots.
- **Research-driven approach**: The lab conducts human-computer research to inform robot design, blending art and engineering.
- **Accessibility ethos**: They aim to make robot building as simple as assembling IKEA furniture, lowering the barrier for entry.

## Strategic Focus
- **Current priorities**: Scaling LeLamp from pilot to production; building a community around expressive robotics; expanding the team with engineering and growth talent.
- **Direction for growth**: Continued research into springiness, damping, and life-like movement; hosting events to foster a collective of artists and roboticists.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture highlights**: Small, tight-knit team (5–6 employees) with a strong emphasis on creativity, experimentation, and joy in building robots. The lab hosts science-fair style Demo Faires and encourages cross-disciplinary collaboration.
- **Remote/hybrid/office policy**: Hybrid workspace – employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work. Offices in Newark, Delaware (US) and likely Toronto (Canada).
- **Notable perks or engineering culture**: Hands-on work with expressive robotics, opportunity to shape early product direction, exposure to cutting-edge HCI research, and a culture that values “taste” and wholesome robot interactions.

## Sources
1. [humancomputerlab.com](https://www.humancomputerlab.com/)
2. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/human-computer-lab](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/human-computer-lab)
3. [builtin.com/company/human-computer-lab](https://builtin.com/company/human-computer-lab)
4. [linkedin.com/company/humancomputerlab](https://www.linkedin.com/company/humancomputerlab)
5. [research.humancomputerlab.com](https://research.humancomputerlab.com/)

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