Revealing Information by Averaging

We present a method for hiding images in synthetic videos and reveal them by temporal averaging. The main challenge is to develop a visual masking method that hides the input image both spatially and temporally. Our masking approach consists of temporal and spatial pixel by pixel variations of the frequency band coefficients representing the image to be hidden. These variations ensure that the target image remains invisible both in the spatial and the temporal domains. In addition, by applying a temporal masking function derived from a dither matrix, we allow the video to carry a visible message that is different from the hidden image. The image hidden in the video can be revealed by software averaging, or with a camera, by long exposure photography. The presented work may find applications in the secure transmission of digital information.