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Visual Hash Turns Text Or Data Into Abstract Art

Posted by timothy on from the picasso-on-security dept.

Makoss writes "Normal cryptographic hash functions turn any input text or data into a compact set of bits; useful for computers, not useful for humans. Visual hash functions turn data into graphical representations which are more easily recognizable and memorable to humans. You've seen Identicons and other simple geometric image generators already, but Vash takes the technique beyond basic geometry and produces some really striking images."

8 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. Obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hash turns a lot of things into abstract art.

  2. Fact. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Bruce Schneier just replaced his copy of Photoshop with /dev/random and a copy of Vash...

    1. Re:Fact. by TopSpin · · Score: 4, Funny

      Bruce Schneier doesn't use Photoshop. He only has to think about an image and it will comply with his wishes.

      --
      Lurking at the bottom of the gravity well, getting old
  3. This is news? by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 3, Funny

    A sufficient quantity of hash will turn ANYTHING into abstract art, no?

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  4. Re:Pretty but... by reiisi · · Score: 3, Informative

    (Why the readme file is README.md, I can't guess.)

    After downloading and reading bits of the docs (but not the code), it appears that it hashes the data you give it (SHA-1 or MD5) and builds the graphic based on the hash.

    (You specify the hashing algorithm by a parameter, and, no, they don't recommend the parameter that specifies MD5. I didn't read far enough to guess as to why the parameter is not the name of the algorithm.)

    So, since it appears that not every geek here is familiar with hashing (Huh?), I'll point out the obvious: The hash does not give enough information to reproduce the original data. (But what about very short inputs, like passwords, which they, erm, suggest?) Also, since the hash is cryptographically hard, reversing it is rather difficult even if you can afford to search through the pseudo-reversion set.

    --
    Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
  5. I am the author by terrence2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Full disclosure: I am the primary author (probably should have mentioned that before replying to other posts, whoops). I'll be watching the comment stream, if you have any questions.

  6. Re:looks to be suffering from graphic repetition by fhage · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Perhaps having the algorithm also add a unique animation sequence would help make these visual representations more identifiable to users. If a flower's rotation suddenly goes from 6 RPM to 60 RPM, that would be a much quicker tipoff that something has changed.

    I agree the images seem unremarkable and not very memorable. How about using the hash to walk the space of facial parameters, generating character faces instead of curves.

    It's amazing how many Mii's one can recognize and remember. Use 2 different hashes and generate a male, female pair.

  7. Re:looks to be suffering from graphic repetition by terrence2 · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's amazing how many Mii's one can recognize and remember. Use 2 different hashes and generate a male, female pair.

    Have you seen RoboHash? It works along the same lines, only with robots.