Artist shows agriculture droning forward

While showcasing the transformative impact of technology on agriculture, the artist also offers her own reflections. The VR game installation Dash-180c allows visitors to adopt the perspective of a discarded agricultural drone, providing a futuristic vision of a world where technology has fully reshaped farming.

Set in 2046, the game imagines a future where drones have been abandoned. A group of monkeys accidentally reactivates one, and through its perspective, visitors explore a sci-fi-inspired future agricultural world. However, in a small corner of this immersive landscape, visitors encounter an elderly farmer practicing traditional farming methods. Treated as a form of intangible cultural heritage, this figure represents, in the artist's view, a potential coexistence of tradition and technology.

Cao points out that in this work, the drone is regulated because it empathizes too much with humans. This symbolizes a social shift toward reflecting on technological development, moving away from unchecked, aggressive expansion.

Her hope for the future of agriculture is a return to the most traditional model of harmonious development — one that "balances technology and nature, tradition and modernity".