James Darpinian
Robotics & Graphics Engineer

I believe robotics will be the most consequential technology of our time. I invented Google Earth VR. I built the first end-to-end neural net eye tracking system.

• Physical Intelligence 12/2024 — 3/2026
  • Robot teleoperation. Force feedback. VR. SLAM tracking. Low latency video streaming. Egocentric human data collection. UMI grippers.
• See A Satellite Tonight 9/2019 — Present
  • https://james.darpinian.com/satellites shows you how to find satellites in the night sky as they pass over your backyard.
• Google 10/2010 — 12/2014, 10/2016 — 5/2021
  • I conceived and created the first version of Google Earth VR. I helped ship WebGL rendering for Google Maps and 3 DOF head tracking for Google Cardboard.
  • Collaborated with Mozilla, Microsoft, and Apple on WebGL and WebGPU standards. Implemented WebGL 2 API in WebKit/Safari. Maintained Chrome GPU stack.
• Eyefluence 1/2015 — 10/2016 (acquired by Google)
  • Created eye tracking system from scratch with end-to-end machine learning. Designed data collection procedure and software to collect large labeled datasets, implemented visualization tools to understand datasets and accuracy, designed neural net architectures, executed training runs, invented a few-shot learning technique for user calibration at runtime, created an SDK and an integration with the Unity game engine, and optimized the system for real time performance at 90 Hz.
  • The system I built got rave reviews from TechCrunch, CNET, PC World, USA Today, and more.