Communications of the ACM
Sudoku Saves Photographers From Copyright Theft
A new watermarking technology is based on a system similar to the rules used to solve Sudoku numeral puzzles.
Credit: TGDaily.com
Computer scientists in Malaysia have developed a watermarking technology based on a system that is similar to the permutation rules used to solve the numeral puzzles known as Sudoku.
The valid 9x9 Sudoku solution, comprising a pixelated second image, can be used to create the watermark so that it is evenly distributed within an image and so that it resists automated cropping and noise additions by bots and other tools. The approach uses the permutations of rows and columns in Sudoku solutions to create and detect an invisible digital watermark that is overlaid on an image with a random distribution. If the image pirate crops part of the image, then the odds are that enough of the watermark will remain elsewhere in the image that the complete watermark might be retrievable, as long as the precise and correct Sudoku solution is given.
In tests, the system resisted attempts to crop the watermark more than 94 percent of the time. The best anti-cropping watermarks used previously achieved only 75 percent resistance. The approach does not require investigators or authorities to have access to the original image. The strategy will discern whether a pirated image has the copyright owner's watermark.
From PhysOrg.com
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