The LUUV is a small camera stabilizer that will help both amateur and professional photographers eliminate shaky camera footage without the need of expensive steadicam rigs. The team behind LUUV used extensive 3D printed prototypes to perfect the device and just launched the final version on Indiegogo to help secure funding.
The bane of anyone shooting video with a cell phone or a small handheld camera is the resulting shaky footage. The human hand simply can’t stay still enough to keep a camera from shaking, this can be corrected with cumbersome and expensive steadicam rigs although that doesn’t do much for people filming their cats doing funny things now does it? It’s even less practical for sports enthusiasts attempting to film their movements. But by mounting your camera on the LUUV the shaky footage is all but eliminated and your camera phone is suddenly capable of producing incredibly professional looking footage. Take a look at examples of the smooth footage in their Indiegogo video here:
The LUUV device works essentially the same way that a traditional steadicam works. By balancing the camera on a rig and not in your hand, the movement on your body won’t influence the movement of the camera as much. And the counterweight system helps keep the camera pointing where you want it, not where the movement of your body in motion sends it.
The design was tweaked multiple times using the creators’ in-house Up Plus 3D printer to rapid prototype new streamlined designs ideas. Once the final design was settled on the parts were optimized for eventual industrial production, however the company turned to German additive manufacturing firm EOS to produce a small volume run of parts for continued testing. The LUUV creators also intend on using 3D printing to manufacture the first production run with plans to expand to traditional high volume manufacturing only if the demand for LUUV exceeds their current estimates.
The results of using the LUUV with a small camera speaks for itself. The footage is smooth and shake free, and while the footage of the device is obviously curated it still looks remarkably easy and straightforward to use. The small start-up behind LUUV would never have been able to achieve a product this polished and market ready without rapid prototyping with a 3D printer, that much is evident. The costs of machining and tooling even half the quantity of prototypes that they did would have made the product’s evolution impossible. It’s pretty evident at this point that rapid prototyping with 3D printing is here to stay.
Learn more about the LUUV on their Indiegogo page or head over to their launch website here. You can also see tons of pictures and test video from the LUUV in action on the teams Instagram account , including this one:
