Last month Delta Optical Thin Film invited the public to send in their suggestions for a new name for its linear variable bandpass filters for Hyperspectral Imaging. The name it chose was Bifrost, suggested by Martin from Norway.
Rainbow filter was the most numerous and logical suggestion. Mantis filter, named after the famous mantis shrimp, was a hot candidate too. While it liked all of them, the company chose Bifrost because it takes the idea of the rainbow filter one step further, and because as a term from Norse mythology it connects to the home country of Delta Optical Thin Film A/S Danmark – this is also the reason why we chose the Danish spelling Bifrost.
Bifrost is a burning rainbow bridge that reaches between Midgard, the world of man, and Asgard, the realm of the gods. The bridge ends in heaven at Himinbjörg, the residence of the god Heimdallr, who guards it from the jötnar (frost giants).
Bifrost as rainbow bridge not only reminds of the visual appearance of Delta’s filters when looked through at sunlight. It also symbolises that its filters are an enabling key component in tomorrow's Hyperspectral Imaging cameras – a bridge between so far unmet user requirements and new applications of Hyperspectral Imaging.
BTW, Martin is planning to have his prize, one of the Bifrost filters, mounted in a camera so he can get started with advanced Hyperspectral Imaging.