Description:
Researchers
at Princeton University have developed a novel technique for insertion of an
invisible watermark in a digital image to detect whether the image has been
modified from the original. Princeton is currently seeking industrial
collaborators to commercialize this technology.
The
need to verify the authenticity of a digital image or video is increasingly
common in fields such as litigation and journalism. Currently used methods for
digital image authentication include digital signature, content-based signature,
pixel-domain watermarking, and frequency-domain data hiding schemes. The
advantages of this invention over prior art are that it is able to indicate
whether an image is altered or not, locate where the alteration was made, embed
the data used for authentication within the host image rather than as a separate
file, insert the watermark with no visible distortion under normal viewing
conditions, and store the watermarked image in lossy-compression format for
efficient storage and transmission.
The
method can be used by digital camera and camcorder manufacturers to produce
"trustworthy" images.
Patent
protection is pending.
For
more information please
contact:
William H. Gowen
Office of Patents and
Licensing
Princeton University
4
New South Building
Princeton, NJ 08544-0036
(609) 258-6762
(609) 258-1159 fax
wgowen@princeton.edu