Fuzzy Logic with Superpixel-Based Block Similarity Measures for Secured Data Hiding Scheme

With time, humans have realized, the internet is the best alternative for exchange of messages through multimedia documents, especially images. Thus, its imperceptibility and security are big concerns. Recently, Ashraf et al. (Heliyon 6(5):e03771, [1]) evaluated similarity for image steganography using interval type-2 fuzzy logic, but the visual quality (PSNR) is not as good as current demand. To solve the problem, we have proposed a data hiding scheme by combining distinct and vague characteristics of an image through the techniques of superpixel and fuzzy logic respectively. Superpixel and TSK Fuzzy logic model with rule base is used to identify non-uniform regions of the image where secret bits are embedded in coefficients of quantized Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT). This technique can be used for secret data communications. With an average PSNR of 58 dB, the proposed approach provides excellent visual quality. Finally, in order to illustrate the efficacy of our technique, we compared the proposed system to existing methodologies.