Optical image hiding under framework of computational ghost imaging based on an expansion strategy

Area of Science:

• Optics
• Information Security
• Computational Imaging

Background:

• Computational ghost imaging (CGI) offers a unique framework for optical image acquisition and manipulation.
• Existing CGI-based schemes for image hiding face challenges in imperceptibility, security, and robustness against attacks.
• The need for secure and robust optical information hiding techniques is growing with the increasing digital transmission of sensitive data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel optical image hiding scheme using an expansion strategy within the computational ghost imaging framework.
• To enhance the imperceptibility and security of hidden information in optical images.
• To improve the robustness of the image hiding scheme against noise and occlusion attacks.

Main Methods:

• The proposed method conceals a hidden image within an expanded interim of the same size as the host image.
• Ghost imaging is employed, utilizing rearranged measured intensities and circularly shifted Hadamard matrices to generate phase-only profiles.
• Frequency coefficients of the host image are modified with the expanded interim using a controlled weighting factor, followed by an inverse transform.

Main Results:

• The developed scheme successfully embeds hidden information into a host image with high imperceptibility.
• Security is enhanced by utilizing optical parameters like wavelength and axial distance as secret keys.
• The use of multiple phase-only profiles significantly improves resistance to noise and occlusion attacks compared to other CGI schemes.

Conclusions:

• The novel optical image hiding scheme based on an expansion strategy is feasible and effective.
• The method provides a secure and robust approach for embedding information in optical images using computational ghost imaging.
• The enhanced resistance to noise and occlusion makes this technique suitable for challenging environments.