BuddhaBot is a robot that acts as a hive to firefly robots. These fireflies fly around and analyze the city. They detect spots where there is little noise pollution and foot traffic and records these as LotusLocations. LotusLocations are dynamic and constantly changing, so BuddhaBot is able to constantly update its maps. One can access a map of LotusLocations via BuddhaBot's information network, DharmaNet. Users can also provide feedback on the quality of these maps to BuddhaBot.

BuddhaBot is not an actual robot, but a speculative design project. I am interested in speculating how BuddhaBot would exist in the real world and how people could interact with it. I imagined how the presence of BuddhaBot can affect the psychological effect of a place and what contributions it can make to city life.

BuddhaBot as a design object, addresses the problem of the stress that can occur when living in the city. BuddhaBot makes aware that there exists solutions to stress caused by noise and crowds, two of the biggest stressors of city living. Stress doesnt come from the irritiability from unwanted noise or the feeling of being suffocated in a crowd, rather it is suggested that the stress stems from the sense of helplessness due to the percieved lack of control over one's surroundings. Individuals have their own ways of coping with this kind of stress, but what if there was a city-wide initiative that would help citizens cope? BuddhaBot would be this initiative. I pictured BuddhaBot as a robot that provided a a free service. A BuddhaBot robot (there would be several in a city) helps citizens exercise control over their surroundings, by allowing them to find more tolerable environments.

Since, BuddhaBot does not exist as an actual robot (yet), I needed to suspend the disbelief that BuddhaBot cannot exist. The fact is that it can exist in the real world, and I illustrated this by tying in existing technologies and science into the development of the project. In addition, I created a booklet that contained descriptions and photos of BuddhaBot in the context of a real world setting, the city of Atlanta. The booklet is a direct marketing tool sent out by the imaginary BuddhaBot initiative, to seek political support for the development of BuddhaBot. I did not explicitly mention Atlanta so this mailer could be sent to anyone living in a modern-day city.