Sword Drones – Technological Show and the Legacy of Myths
A swarm of sword-shaped drones has attracted the attention of the international public. Demonstrated by Chinese creator Fan Shisan, the experiment transforms a familiar object — the sword — into a flying artifact, controlled by gestures. The phenomenon is not only an engineering exercise, but also a cultural act: current technology draws inspiration from the collective imagination and recreates, in visible form, myths that are thousands of years old.
The drones are built as elongated blades, each with four propellers arranged at the tip, at the handle and on the sides of the guard. This architecture gives them the appearance of a floating sword, and hand movements become direct commands. The viewer has the impression that the “sword” responds to the will of the one who wields it, as if it were an extension of the body. In formation, the swarm becomes a unique visual spectacle, reminiscent of scenes from wuxia or anime films, where weapons are not just objects, but symbols of the spirit.
Fan Shisan doesn’t limit himself to small swarms. He has also built a “hover sword” large enough to be ridden, inspired by the hoverboard in pop culture. His ambition goes further: a swarm of ten thousand swords, a demonstration of mythical proportions, where technology would become ritual, and the spectacle would cross the line between reality and legend.
Such inventions are not just entertainment. They raise questions about the role of technology in culture. Why do we choose myth-inspired forms for modern devices? What draws us to the aesthetics of the sword, to the idea of a weapon that not only cuts but also expresses the will? How would these artifacts have been perceived in antiquity, when any inexplicable phenomenon was attributed to the gods?
In the past, a swarm of “flying swords” would have been interpreted as a divine sign, as a manifestation of supernatural power. Today, they are the result of engineering and imagination, but the reaction of amazement remains the same. The public watches in fascination, and the line between technology and myth proves surprisingly thin.
The sword is a universal symbol. In Asia, it is the extension of the spirit; in Europe, the knight's weapon; in biblical myths, the instrument of angels. The sword-drones take up this legacy and transform it into a technological spectacle. It is no longer just a weapon, but a cultural artifact, a sign that technology does not develop in a vacuum, but in dialogue with the collective imagination.
The sword-drones are more than spectacular gadgets. They show how current technology can transform the cultural imagination into visible reality. Between the fascination of the public and the ambition of the creators, these artifacts remind us that myth has not disappeared, but has been transformed. Today, myth is no longer just a story, but a technological spectacle — and perhaps even the foreshadowing of new forms of visual culture.
If swarms of sword drones, inspired by wuxia myths and the universal symbolism of the sword, can be seen today as a technological spectacle, then what does it mean for contemporary culture that engineering visibly re-creates the ancestral imaginary — is it just visual entertainment, a form of digital art, an exercise in symbolic power, or even an indication that current technology is beginning to play the role that myths once had in shaping collective perception?