Nuance Labs introduced Nuplex 1.0, a real-time audiovisual foundation model, and Emma, its first AI persona, on November 9, 2026. The launch also includes the Nuplex Beta API. If the demo has you looking for a character to talk to, Prelulu offers character chat and live voice or video calls; Emma is a separate research preview with different access rules and use cases.
Nuance Labs, Nuplex and Emma: which is which?
Nuance Labs is the company. Nuplex 1.0 is the model. Emma is the persona you can meet through its demo. This is the company at nuancelabs.ai, not Microsoft's Nuance business. Its launch announcement describes a system built for face-to-face conversation, with speech, expressions, gaze and reactions working together.
Nuplex can listen and speak simultaneously. That is different from simply taking a text response and animating a face after it is finished. Nuance's emphasis is not just replying quickly: it is deciding when to start speaking, when to keep listening and how the face should respond before words arrive.
What is new about Emma?
Emma is designed around one consistent face, voice and personality. Nuance says her likeness and voice are licensed from an actress who worked with the team. The announcement highlights small listening reactions, facial expressions and gaze as part of the conversation, rather than treating the face as decoration around a voice assistant.
That makes the interesting question broader than 'does the mouth move?' Can a character react while you are still speaking? Can it leave space for a pause without ending your turn? Does its expression fit the moment? These are useful things to look for in any AI video call, not a claim that we have independently tested Emma or ranked the systems.
How to try Emma, and where it is available
- Open the official Emma demo. Nuance says no account is required to talk to Emma.
- Check Nuance's eligibility requirements before starting. Emma currently speaks English only, and both the demo and API have launch restrictions.
- The announced regions are the United States except Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois and Texas; the European Union; the United Kingdom; and Canada except Quebec.
A translated article does not mean Emma supports that language or is available in that country. Nuance's launch list does not include China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan or South Korea. We have not verified a public price list: account-free access is not a promise of unlimited free calls. Check the official demo and platform for current terms.
What developers get with the Nuplex Beta API
The developer platform is the entry point for the beta. Nuance describes several personas, developer-supplied prompts, live conversation tracking and tools that can handle longer tasks in the background while the persona keeps talking.
There are important limits. Although Nuance says the architecture works with any language model, the beta serves a model chosen by Nuance. Tools may call other models or services; that is not the same as replacing the persona's underlying model. Uploading your own face or voice is not self-service. Custom enterprise personas are by arrangement and require explicit permission from the person whose likeness or voice is used.
Is Emma an AI girlfriend?
No. Nuance explicitly excludes AI girlfriends and boyfriends from this launch. Its announcement also sets eligibility and content policies and excludes healthcare. A realistic face and a friendly personality do not make it a romantic-companion product, and the API should not be described as an unrestricted backend for one.
For character stories and calls, try Prelulu
If what caught your attention was the idea of a character looking back and answering you, Prelulu is a place to do that: choose a fictional character, start with text and move into a live voice or video call with a call-capable character. You can also create your own character rather than starting from a single fixed persona.
Prelulu is a separate product, not an Emma integration or a Nuplex-powered demo. It is free to start, and signup welcome credits can fund a short call. Voice and video use wallet credits; the pricing page explains the current plans. Choose Emma to explore Nuance's new persona technology; choose Prelulu when you want character conversations and stories you can take into a call.
What the launch does not prove yet
Nuance itself lists limitations: Emma can interrupt too soon, wait too long, struggle with background noise, misunderstand camera input and make reasoning mistakes. The mouth can fall out of time with the voice, and gaze or head motion can look wrong, especially on a poor connection. The company's demonstrations and evaluations are evidence of what it is presenting, not our own hands-on review or an independent quality benchmark.
Source: Nuance Labs, Meet Emma, the First Nuplex Persona, published November 9 and checked November 10, 2026. This explainer is published by Prelulu, which offers its own character-call product. Availability and beta terms may change.
Meet a character you can call
Start a conversation in Prelulu, then hear and see a call-capable character answer live. Signup welcome credits can fund a short call.