Beyond pixels and ciphers: Navigating the advancements and challenges in visual cryptography

Visual cryptography (VC) has emerged as a pivotal solution for secure information transmission, leveraging its unique capability to encrypt images in a user-friendly and accessible manner. This survey paper provides an in-depth analysis of various VC methods, highlighting their distinct encryption and decryption techniques, applicability, and security levels. The study delves into the technical specifications of each VC type, offering insights into secret image formats, the number of secret images used, types of shares, pixel expansion, and complexity. Significant attention is given to the practical applications of VC, ranging from secure document verification and anti-counterfeiting measures to digital watermarking and online data protection. The paper also identifies key challenges in the field, such as image quality retention post-decryption, computational efficiency, and scalability. Future prospects of VC are explored, particularly its potential integration with emerging technologies like AI and blockchain. This survey aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of VC’s current state, its diverse applications, and the future possibilities, making it a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners in the field of data security and cryptography.