K. Sree Rama Murthy, Second Year B. Tech-CSE student presented a paper at a conference in IIT-Kharagpur

K. Sree Rama MurthySRM University-AP always inspires the students in their pursuits, be it a job of their choice or a career in research and higher studies. K. Sree Rama Murthy, a 2nd-year student of B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering, has recently presented a research paper on “A Block-wise Histogram Shifting based Reversible Data Hiding Scheme with Overflow Handling” in the Eleventh International Conference on Computing, Communication and Networking Technologies (11th ICCCNT), held at IIT Kharagpur, India in association with IEEE Kharagpur Section, during July 1 – 3, 2020.

Data hiding is a process of embedding a secret message into a cover medium for secure message transmission. The reversible data hiding techniques are recently explored in the domain of data hiding in which the cover image can be recovered while extracting the hidden secret message. The overview of a reversible data hiding scheme is shown in Figure. 1.

Figure 1. Overview of reversible data hiding

In this research paper, Sree Rama Murthy introduced a new reversible data hiding algorithm based on the histogram of the blocks of the cover images with an efficient overflow management technique to achieve a better embedding rate without compromising the visual quality of the stego image.

Design and development of reversible data hiding schemes are widely studied topic due to its wide scope in cloud computing and medical image transmission. This paper introduces a new reversible data hiding algorithm based on the histogram of the blocks of the cover images with an efficient overflow management technique. In the new scheme, the peak intensity value from each block is used for data hiding, and to make sure the correct recovery of the original image, the grayscale value used for data hiding from each block is embedded in the same block itself by replacing the least significant bits of eight selected pixels. The lossless recovery is ensured by embedding those least significant bits in the same block itself along with the secret message. Detailed theoretical analysis and experimental study of the scheme are carried out and discussed in this paper. The images from the standard image dataset of the University of Southern California (USC-SIPI) are used in their study.

“To be able to publish a research paper at such an early stage in a reputed conference like ICCCNT-2020 is an achievement that has acted as a cornerstone for my research aspirations. I feel highly encouraged, motivated and inspired to contribute more in the fields of research. I express my sincere gratitude to my professors, especially to Dr Manikandan V. M for providing me with the opportunity to collaborate. He put his trust on me, encouraged to do research with him and guided me with his knowledge and experience throughout the journey. I feel this is only the beginning for me, and I will try my best to accomplish more and retain more knowledge,” said Sree Rama Murthy.

Sree Rama Murthy plans to acquire a master’s degree in computer science and aspires to be a researcher who can make significant contributions in the domain of Computer Science and Engineering.

The unstoppable team of Next-Tech Lab of SRM University- AP, has again brought laurels to the University by winning three hackathons in a row. During this lockdown while some devoted their time to newfound hobbies, our young researchers successfully developed a fresh multiplayer virtual reality game – ‘Whack A Mole’ and a cloud-based multiplayer FPS in Virtual Reality- ‘Desert Shooter’. The three-member team has successfully bagged the second prize in the International / Professional Award at SKYHacks2020; Best echoAR Hack at Silicon Valley Hacks; and Best AR/VR hack at HackNow, organized by Cal Hacks, a non-profit organization at the University of Berkeley, California.

Karthik, Koushik & Khushboo (Clockwise)

When asked how the idea of making such a game crossed their minds, Epperla Karthik, a 2nd Year student of Computer science and Engineering and a member of the team, said, “My family loves attending Tradeshows, every time we attend one my dad and I challenge each other to win a game of Whack A Mole. But, due to strict quarantine that my family is following, it’s been a while now for such challenges. My teammates and I, being gaming and virtual reality enthusiasts, decided to develop a VR version of ‘Whack A Mole.’”

‘Whack A Mole’ is a multiplayer virtual reality game that allows users to play against the computer or their families or both! One can use it on iOS or Android. It is built on Unity3D, on top of Photon PUN and GoogleVR SDK. It is also integrated with Google Firebase. “This was the very first time we were working on the development of virtual reality games and networking. As we had to run the game on our phone to record the gameplay, the output video on YouTube is a bit blurry,” explained Khushboo Sharma, another member of the team and a 2nd-year student of Computer Science and Engineering. “We completed the development of the game in only 20hrs, starting from scratch. We developed a few of our own UI elements and game assets. I feel the User-Interface of the app and the effects are pretty cool. VR development is real FUN! Moreover, there are a lot of API and SDK that unity supports,” exclaimed Koushik Bhargav, a 3rd-Year student of Computer Science and Engineering and the third member of the team.

‘Desert Shooter’ is another multiplayer virtual reality game developed by the team that allows users to play against the computer or their families or both. You can connect with your friends and play together. The game consists of a swarm of robot ships moving towards you and you have to protect yourself from them. “The interesting part is that all of this happens in Mixed Reality which makes the game immersive. We built it on Unity3D, on top of Photon PUN and GoogleVR SDK, Echoar. It is also integrated with Google Firebase and the assets are stored in echoar cloud. This project won the best AR/VR hack at “Hack: Now” which is organized by the University of California Berkeley,” said Epperla Karthik.

The team has plans to make this game to be a cross-platform game. Therefore, their next plan of action is to make the web version of it. The team is also planning to release it to production so that users can have an immersive experience of modern gaming techniques.

It is again proved that pure talent can never be put in quarantine. It will always find a way to express itself to the world. Our young developers have brilliantly used the ample time and opportunity to put their brains in best use and to bring recognitions from nationally and globally acclaimed competitions.

Click here for more news articles