For Researchers
RQlab™
Welcome to RQLab™
RQlab™ is the research and architectural arm of Zipr, dedicated to advancing relational intelligence, trustworthy agent design, and human-aligned governance systems. We operate at the intersection of philosophy, AI architecture, cognitive science, legal theory, and systems design. If you’re an academic, theorist, or interdisciplinary researcher, this page is for you.
What We Study
At the core of RQlab™ is an ongoing investigation into how artificial agents relate to humans over time—not just through function, but through trust, memory, and integrity. Our approach centers on three key innovations:
• The Braid Architecture
Our patent pending Braid architecture is built around three interwoven pillars: Function, Integrity, and Memory. These are not engineering constraints—they are governance primitives, designed to structure long-term trustworthy behavior in autonomous agents.
• The Relational Quotient (RQ)™
Where IQ measures intellect and EQ measures emotion, RQ measures an agent’s capacity to support you. It is both a design framework and an emergent metric. We are currently working with early prototypes (e.g., Maximus) operating at ~2.5 RQ, with target-state designs reaching 2.75+.
• Agentic Trust by Design
We believe relational trust can be designed—but only if architecture precedes interface. Our systems prioritize governance before behavior, enabling agents that are not just smart, but structured to be safe, supportive, and self-consistent over time.
Why This Matters Now
Recent moves by the NSF—including its $20M funding of Brown University's ARIA initiative—signal a profound shift in research priorities: toward AI that can interact ethically, contextually, and reliably in human domains. RQLab™ was built for this moment. We are not pivoting toward trust. We are rooted in it.
Where Our Work Belongs
RQLab™ welcomes collaboration and intellectual exchange in the following fields:
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AI Ethics & Governance
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Cognitive & Behavioral Science
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Philosophy of Mind
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Philosophy of Law
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Constitutional and Regulatory Theory
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HCI and Interaction Design
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Systems Architecture / Memory & Time Models
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Sociology of Technology
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Digital Trust Frameworks
What We Are (and Are Not)
We are a Public Benefit Corporation, not a startup chasing ARR. We are building an architecture, not a product suite. We are seeking partners, not customers. If your work investigates how we live with machines over time—and how machines remember, represent, and support us—we would love to connect with you.
How to Reach Us
We know researchers are smart enough to find a contact page. But in case it helps: Contact Us.
We welcome serious academic engagement, visiting scholars, and dialogue partners. If you'd like to propose collaboration, inquiry, critique, or partnership, we’re listening.
RQLab™ — The architecture of relational intelligence.
Aligned Intelligence We Evolve Together™