A Reversible Secret Image Sharing Scheme Based on Stick Insect Matrix

This paper first proposes a generation algorithm of a stick insect matrix. Then, a novel reversible secret image sharing scheme based on the stick insect matrix is presented. With the help of our matrix, secret data can be embedded in a cover image to generate two meaningful shadows. It is worth mentioning that the stick insect structure of the proposed matrix can be extended according to the embedding rate of the secret data, meanwhile the generating rules of the stick insect matrix can guarantee optimal visual quality of the generated shadows. Moreover, our scheme also provides an authentication mechanism. The embedded secret data can be retrieved and the cover image can be recovered exactly after successful authentication of two shadows. Experimental results show that our proposed scheme provides excellent visual quality and good authentication ability.