Signal rich art image — A new tool for automatic identification and data capture applications using mobile phones

A new tool, called signal-rich-art image, for automatic identification and data capture applications is proposed, which is created from an artistic target image for use as a carrier of a given message. The created image is visually similar to the target image, achieving the effect of so-called signal rich art. With its function similar to those of barcodes or QR codes, such a type of image is produced by fragmenting the composing characters of the message and injecting them into the target image by a novel image-block luminance modulation scheme. Skillful techniques are also proposed for message extraction from a mobile phone-captured version of the signal-rich-art image printed on paper or displayed on a screen. Good experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed method.