Image-based data interfaces revisited: Barcodes and watermarks for the mobile and digital worlds

Abstract

The ubiquitous availability of image sensors in smartphones and other mobile computing devices makes feasible new applications for both barcodes that encode data as image patterns and watermarks that hide data in images. To support these new applications, a number of new methods have been developed for these long-standing image-based data communication interfaces, methods that are better suited for use with the image sensors. In this paper, we review these developments and the applications they enable, drawing upon examples from our own prior work in this area. We highlight key attributes that distinguish these image-based communications interfaces from other noncontact modes of communication and make their continued use an attractive option.