A novel smooth texture-based visual cryptography approach for secure communication

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel encoding technique to encrypt information as visual object embedded in an image. The textures of the objects are made up of lines to form a geometrical shape. The images of the textures are combined to produce an overt cipher host image which appears as a grid structured image. The cipher host image holds the covert information's which are embedded inside those sub-image or grids as an object in a chaotic pattern. The textures of objects for encoding the information is generated then reshuffled and arranged to barred it from eavesdropping. For decryption visual character recognition is being applied using artificial neural network. The reliability of the proposed approach has been illustrated with some empirical examples. The overall cryptography process in a digital image makes it a simple and effective methodology for the secure communication.