Transparency
All AI-generated content is clearly disclosed. Users always know they are interacting with an AI system, not a person.
Umbrella Research
A small, research-driven team exploring ethical, human-centered applications of AI in the space of memory, reflection, and personal meaning.
Who we are
Umbrella Research is the team behind AfterLight. We are not a large corporation. We are a small initiative prioritizing responsible design over rapid commercialization.
Our work sits at the intersection of AI, memory, and ethics. We believe that how technology handles personal memory matters — not just technically, but morally.
We value transparency, user agency, and clear ethical boundaries in everything we build. AfterLight is our first project, and it reflects these values at every layer.
Introducing Umbrella Research
Who we are, what we believe, and why we build the way we do.
User agency
Users decide what memories to share and how to interact. They can stop, delete, or modify their experience at any time.
Restraint
We do not collect more than necessary or share data with third parties. Personal memories are treated with care.
Research-driven
Every design decision is grounded in ethical reasoning, not market pressure. We move deliberately, not fast.
Robert Gall
Founder & Lead Researcher
Exploring the ethical boundaries of memory representation through AI.
We build slowly, because what we’re building matters slowly.
Umbrella Research
Why ethics come first
AfterLight works with personal memory — one of the most sensitive kinds of data a person can share. That demands a level of care that goes beyond standard privacy practices.
We designed AfterLight’s ethical framework before writing a single line of code. The principles below are not aspirational. They are architectural constraints that shape what the system can and cannot do.
Representation, not resurrection
Avatars reflect memories shared by the user. They do not claim to be, replace, or simulate a real person.
Transparency
All AI-generated content is clearly disclosed. Users always know they are interacting with an AI system, not a person.
No therapeutic claims
AfterLight is not therapy, counseling, or a medical tool. It does not diagnose, treat, or advise on mental health.
User control
Users decide what memories to share and how to interact. They can stop, delete, or modify their experience at any time.
No exploitation of grief
The system is designed to support healthy reflection, not to create emotional dependency or manipulate vulnerable users.
Privacy and restraint
Personal data and memories are treated with care. The system does not collect more than necessary or share data with third parties.
The right question is not “what can we build?” but “what should we build — and what should we refuse to?”
Umbrella Research