Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

James Tompkin is a researcher whose work spans visual computing, neural representations, human-robot interaction, and mixed reality. He is perhaps best known for his foundational contributions to the emerging field of neural fields — coordinate-based neural networks that parameterize physical properties of scenes and objects across space and time. His landmark survey, "Neural Fields in Visual Computing and Beyond" (2022), has amassed over 447 citations, establishing itself as an essential reference for researchers navigating this rapidly evolving landscape. Beyond scene representation, Tompkin has made meaningful contributions to human-robot interaction, investigating how robots can communicate motion intent to nearby humans through mixed-reality head-mounted displays — work that has collectively earned over 150 citations and addresses pressing safety challenges in collaborative workspaces. His thought-provoking "Piggybacking Robots" study (2017, 82 citations) explored the surprising social phenomenon of human overtrust in robots, demonstrating that people would compromise physical security to assist a robot — a finding with significant implications for security design and AI ethics. Tompkin's research reflects a rare breadth, connecting cutting-edge computer vision and machine learning with real-world human factors and robotics, making him a distinctive voice across multiple communities.