Selfies are not (necessarily) evidence of narcissism. St. Augustine’s “Confessions,”  Franklin’s Autobiography, and van Gogh’s “Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear” can all be seen as precursors of the modern video blog. So are stand-up comics and one-man band performers like the early Dylan accompanying himself with his harmonica.

Mobile moviemaking easy-to-use technology makes it is a natural for featuring one’s self, hence the tsunami of video blogs on politics, the arts, fashion, food, travel, and just about every other topic you can think of. But until now, autobiographical action mobile videos were almost impossible because the performer could easily move outside the frame. The problem has been common even in limited action-selfies such as lectures or musical performances.

But the solution may be at hand in the form of the Filmbo, a lightweight auto-tracking camera dock that uses infra-red beams or magic (I’m not sure which) to keep the performer in the frame. If we’re to believe the promotional video, this robotic cinematographer can follow the subject in a complete circle and also automatically tilt to capture up and down motion. The device, with a battery rated for 8 hours, also includes modes for taking still photos. Right now the Filmbo only supports iPhones.

The device is scheduled to be available in April 2015, priced at $149.00. You can pre-order at http://www.owlch.com, which will take you to the company’s IndieGoGo campaign. The cost at IndieGoGo is $99.

The editors of MMM are trying to arrange a hands-on test of the Filmbo device. Stay tuned.