Interactive Images using Illustration Watermarks: Techniques, Studies, and Applications

Abstract

Static 2D images can be turned into interactive media by providing descriptive information that is shown on demand. For this purpose, two challenges need to be solved. First, appropriate techniques for the storage of descriptive information and its linkage to the image content are needed. We address this challenge by applying techniques from information hiding, a procedure we call Illustration Watermarking. In a user study, a new adaptive approach optimized for our application outperformed a traditional proceeding in terms of quality. The second challenge is to design interaction procedures which support the user in the exploration of descriptive information. Therefore, concepts are proposed to let the user find and retrieve the embedded data and its properties. Finally, we present various application scenarios.