“Not from Harvard – from Ohrid”: World Media Spotlight on Sefidanis and the Future of Robots, Culture and AI
When Macedonian lifestyle magazine Maski Magazin, amplified by the Faktor.mk news portal, ran the headline “Not from Harvard, from Ohrid: World portals write about the man from Ohrid who creates robots and defines the future of the world”, it captured a story that had already begun to circle the globe.Машки Магазин+1 The story is that of Prof. Dr. Anis Sefidanis and the R&D company Sefidanis, based in Ohrid, whose work at the intersection of humanoid robotics, artificial intelligence, cultural heritage and telemedicine is increasingly recognized far beyond North Macedonia.
In the Maski/Faktor feature, Prof. Sefidanis is presented as a professor at the University of Information Science & Technology “St. Paul the Apostle” in Ohrid, and a “brilliant mind who lives in a future that others are yet to experience.”Машки Магазин+1 Colleagues and international collaborators alike highlight not only his scientific profile but also the fact that, from a small laboratory in Ohrid, he is building systems that many would associate with the world’s biggest tech centres. The article notes that headlines across regional media describe Sefidanis as “doing in Ohrid what even an entire team of scientists at Harvard doesn’t manage to do,” underlining that geography is no barrier when vision and expertise are present.Машки Магазин
At the core of this attention is a portfolio of creations that sit within what Sefidanis himself calls “Digital Humanity” – a blend of advanced AI and robotics with culture, art and public experience. Among them, the best-known internationally is Alshar, a humanoid robot DJ created under the Sefidanis® brand.
In August 2024, innovation portal Inovativnost published an in-depth interview under the title “Professor Anis Sefidanis from Ohrid created the world’s first robot DJ.” The article describes Alshar as a humanoid robot in anthropomorphic form, built with natural human-like dimensions and proportions so that it can communicate effectively with people in social environments. It emphasises that Alshar’s initial role is to create original music and perform as a professional DJ, making it, according to the piece, the first robot DJ of its kind in the world.Иновативност
Shortly afterwards, cultural and design platform Smart SDK (SMART SDK.mk) reported on Alshar’s debut performance in the Rebel nightclub in Ohrid. Their article, “The Ohrid company Sefidanis presented a robot DJ that can create its own music,” describes Alshar as the latest project of the Sefidanis Research & Development Society: a humanoid DJ that not only plays but also generates unique musical pieces with the help of artificial intelligence. The text notes that Alshar’s mission is to usher audiences into a new era while at the same time helping to preserve Macedonian art and cultural heritage by using machine-learning models to remix and reimagine existing works into new genres and styles.СМАРТ – СДК МК
International media quickly followed. In July 2024, Voice of America (VOA) in Macedonian ran a news feature titled “An innovator from Ohrid created a humanoid robot: its first ‘job’ will be as a DJ in a club.” The report explains that the humanoid robot, designed and built by Sefidanis in his Ohrid laboratory, integrates systems from robotics and artificial intelligence and is capable of working as a bartender, DJ, hotel receptionist or service robot in tourism. The article notes that it can perform both repetitive and creative tasks, operate across multiple shifts without fatigue, and that its movements and physical appearance are fine-tuned with the help of dentists and physiotherapists so that it looks and behaves like a human.ВОА
The story travelled further through the Albanian-language media ecosystem. In September 2024, Telegrafi.com published an English-language feature, “Meet ‘DJ Allshar’, the robot made in Macedonia, which makes music through artificial intelligence.” The article highlights that Allshar is a humanoid robot built entirely in Sefidanis’ lab, using the latest AI technologies, and describes it as the first of its kind not only in the Balkans but beyond. It reports that the robot has six computers integrated in its body plus external computing units for motor control and “brain” logic, combining open-source hardware templates with high-end AI hardware including multi-GPU supercomputing components. Allshar, the article notes, can listen to old Macedonian or Albanian songs and in real time transform them into melodic trance or techno, and can even generate entirely new musical styles tailored to younger generations.Telegrafi
Another influential piece appeared on the portal Koha.net, which republished a BBC feature under the headline “Alshari, the first robot DJ in the Balkans.” The article explains that the humanoid robot Alshar entertained guests at a nightclub in Ohrid and quotes Prof. Sefidanis saying that the robot is based on the latest achievements in artificial intelligence, chooses its own music and can generate completely new compositions on the spot. The report underlines that, according to Sefidanis, it is the first such robot in the Balkans and possibly wider. It also notes that Alshar uses a chest-mounted camera to “read” facial expressions in the crowd and adapt the music to the atmosphere, effectively communicating with the audience while also producing original computer-generated music.KOHA.net
The academic side of the story is documented by the University of Information Science & Technology (UIST) in Ohrid, which reported on the “first robot DJ Alshar” as a pioneering project combining advanced AI and robotics under the guidance of Prof. Sefidanis. The university’s news note emphasises that Alshar is the first humanoid robot DJ in the Balkans and one of the first of its kind globally, and that it was fully developed within the university–industry ecosystem centred in Ohrid.UIST
Yet Alshar is only one part of the broader narrative that led Maski and Faktor to speak of “defining the future of the world.” Before the robot DJ, Sefidanis and his team created the Smart Monument of Grigor Prlichev for the city of Ohrid: a digital monument that fuses artificial intelligence and virtual reality to bring the 19th-century poet to life as an interactive “virtual avatar”. The official website of Ohrid Municipality describes the installation as a “digital smart monument” that crosses AI and VR into a unique, futuristic experience for citizens and visitors, including Macedonian speech recognition and a vivid avatar of Prlichev synchronized with expressive speech. The system was commissioned by the municipality and implemented by the company Sefidanis.Ohrid.gov.mk – Ohrid.gov.mk
In May 2025, this line of work culminated in a major institutional recognition: UIST announced that Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anis Sefidanis had been awarded a national patent for his invention “Smart Monument”, valid until 2044. University and LinkedIn announcements describe the patented system as a novel AR/VR and AI platform that allows people to interact with digital cultural heritage hands-free, even offline, without the need for phones or headsets. These communications place the Smart Monument within a wider portfolio developed by the Sefidanis R&D Society: the Virtual Avatar of Grigor Prlichev, the holographic “Monument of the Future” launched in May 2024 for the Day of St. Cyril and Methodius, and humanoid robots Alshar and Alshar 2.0.UIST+2LinkedIn+2
In the Maski / Faktor interview, Prof. Sefidanis reflects on how this ecosystem of projects grew from early experiments with simple platforms and sensors into a laboratory that today operates an NVIDIA supercomputer. On that infrastructure, he explains, his team is working on projects in artificial general intelligence (AGI) for humanoid robots and AI-driven telemedicine, where algorithms no longer represent just lines of code but decisions with real-world consequences.Машки Магазин The same conversation stresses that, for him, robotics is a way to turn curiosity into a vision for the future – and ultimately into a useful service for the community.
Beyond specific devices, the article also gives Sefidanis’ perspective on the broader societal impact of AI. He points out that artificial intelligence is already a mass-adopted technology and highlights the need for responsible use, standards and education. He welcomes the European AI Act’s requirements for transparency, labelling of synthetic content and mandatory human oversight, arguing that such frameworks, combined with education, can accelerate the adoption of “good AI” while limiting misuse.Машки Магазин In his view, universities should lead with rigorous curricula, ethical practice and evidence-based evaluation, and the “human + AI” model – not AI alone – should remain at the centre of education.
Taken together, these reports from Macedonian, regional and international outlets explain why Maski and Faktor chose the provocative framing “Not from Harvard, from Ohrid.” From a lakeside tech lab in a UNESCO heritage town, Sefidanis and his team are building humanoid robots that perform in clubs, smart monuments that speak with the voice of historic poets, and AI systems that touch healthcare and education. The recognition from platforms such as BBC/Koha, VOA, Telegrafi, Inovativnost and Smart SDK confirms that this is not just a local curiosity, but part of a global conversation about how deep-tech, culture and higher education can intersect in small but visionary ecosystems like Ohrid – and about how Sefidanis aims to keep people, values and responsibility at the centre of that future.
References / Sources and original publication dates
Maski Magazin – “Не е од Харвард, од Охрид е: Светски портали пишуваат за охриѓанецот кој создава роботи и ја дефинира иднината на светот”, 5 November 2025.Машки Магазин
Faktor.mk – “Не е од Харвард, од Охрид е: Светски портали пишуваат за охриѓанецот кој создава роботи и ја дефинира иднината на светот”, 7 November 2025 (syndicated from Maski Magazin).Машки Магазин
Inovativnost – “Професорот Анис Сефиданис oд Охрид го креираше првиот робот-диџеј во светот”, 24 August 2024.Иновативност
SMART SDK.mk – “Охридската фирма ‘Сефиданис’ претстави робот диџеј кој може да создава своја музика”, 8 September 2024.СМАРТ – СДК МК
Voice of America (Macedonian service) – “Иноватор од Охрид создаде хуманоиден робот: Диџеј во клуб ќе му биде прво ‘работно’ место”, 25 July 2024.ВОА
Telegrafi.com – “Meet ‘DJ Allshar’, the robot made in Macedonia, which makes music through artificial intelligence”, 30 September 2024.Telegrafi
Koha.net / BBC – “Alshari, the first robot DJ in the Balkans”, 26 September 2024.KOHA.net
UIST – “The first robot DJ Alshar” (University of Information Science & Technology “St. Paul the Apostle” – Ohrid), 25 September 2025.UIST
Municipality of Ohrid – “ПРОМОВИРАН ВИРТУЕЛНИОТ ПАМЕТЕН СПОМЕНИК НА ГРИГОР ПРЛИЧЕВ”, 10 August 2022.Ohrid.gov.mk – Ohrid.gov.mk
UIST – “Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anis Sefidanis Awarded Patent for His Innovative Invention – ‘Smart Monument’”, 30 May 2025 (Uncategorized news page and related media).UIST+1
LinkedIn (Anis Sefidanis, PhD & UIST / Ohrid Tech City posts) – announcements on the Smart Monument patent and overview of the Digital Humanity portfolio, mid-2025.LinkedIn+1
