CURSED HELM is an independent artificial intelligence research lab based in Aotearoa New Zealand, founded by Fraser Austin. We develop experimental frameworks for autonomous AI agents, persistent memory, and multimodal information retrieval, with a focus on local-first systems and information sovereignty. We also provide specialist research and advisory services.
Research & Projects
- omniSpectral multimodal search and retrieval framework using spectral graph methods, dynamic hypergraphs,and cross-modal information discovery. Currently working with the NZ NATIONAL LIBRARY paperspast datasets, to expose fuzzier cultural & humanities associations through cleaner OCR rendering and cross modal edges.
- defaultMODE persistent AI cognitive architecture with self-pruning memory, emergent attention, associative reasoning, and autonomous reflection. A memory system for LLMs to allow daydreaming consolidation of their expereinces.
- aderpy browser-native metaTOOLS for lossy media manipulation and generation. An alt. timeline for creative software.
- qBERT buzzy generative chatbot built from a bidirectional BERT model, using speculative masked-token generation, semantic scoring, and dialogue fine-tuning.
