Secure 3D data hiding technique based on a mesh traversal algorithm

Due to its powerful ability to conceal secret data inside an unsuspicious cover object, image steganography has emerged as an active field of research. Recently, a lot of advancements in relation to software and hardware have been carried out, allowing for faster processing of 3D image models. In turn, this has paved the way for 3D image steganography. This paper proposes a novel approach of secure and reversible data hiding in 3D mesh models. The proposed approach employs a mesh traversal algorithm that is based on the shortest distances between neighboring vertices of the mesh. The fourth and fifth decimal places of the Cartesian coordinate vertices after the decimal point are modified to hide the secret data. The proposed approach is evaluated in terms of a number of metrics and is shown to outperform its counterparts from the literature.