Secure Colored QR Code Embedding Public and Secret Layers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing QR code embedding methods fail to provide both aesthetic enhancement and security while maintaining decodability by standard applications, and they often result in distortion when embedded into images.
Innovation Solution
A method to create a secure QR code that embeds both a public and a secret QR code into a colored QR code, using aesthetic enhancement and transformation techniques to maintain decodability, with the secret QR code hidden using orthogonal vectors in the RGB color space and cryptographic security, and decoded using enhanced software and secure keys.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a secret QR code is embedded into a colored QR code using existing embedding methods, then the aesthetic appearance is enhanced, but the security of the secret information is compromised because standard decoders can access it
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds the secret QR code in the color dimension rather than the luminance dimension. By encoding secret information in color variations that are invisible to standard grayscale decoders, the system achieves both aesthetic enhancement and security. The secret QR code is hidden in the color space while the public QR code remains visible in luminance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a specialized decoder as an intermediary that can extract both public and secret information. This decoder acts as a mediator between the colored QR code and the information layers, using cryptographic keys to selectively retrieve the secret QR code while standard decoders only access the public layer.
2Quantity of substance
If a QR code is embedded into an image, then the information storage capacity is increased, but the decodability by standard applications deteriorates due to distortion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the QR code information into multiple layers: a public QR code layer and a secret QR code layer. Each layer is encoded independently in different dimensions (luminance and color respectively), allowing standard decoders to reliably read the public layer while specialized decoders can access both layers without interference.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different encoding qualities to different parts of the QR code structure. The public QR code uses standard luminance variations for maximum compatibility, while the secret QR code uses subtle color variations in the same spatial locations, creating local differentiation that preserves decodability while adding capacity.
3Reliability
If color variations are used to embed secret information, then the security is improved, but the aesthetic appearance may deteriorate due to visible distortion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses controlled color changes to embed secret information while maintaining aesthetic appearance. By manipulating color saturation and hue in ways that are imperceptible to the human eye but detectable by specialized decoders, the system achieves security enhancement without visible distortion or degradation of the visual design.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention embodies a technique, referred to as Secure QR Codes, which not only provides aesthetically enhanced QR codes but also allows for security. It can embed a standard black and white QR code, referred to as a public QR code, and a secret QR code, both into a secure QR code. The secure QR code produced is composed of colored cells. The public black and white QR code must first be, either aesthetically enhanced into an enhanced colored QR code, or transformed into a colored QR code with cells of uniform color obtained by transforming each of the black and white cells of the public QR code into cells that takes a color from a subset of possible colors, such that the luminance of each colored cell approximates accurately the black or white luminance values of the public QR code.