{"id":17,"date":"2026-03-25T09:31:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T09:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/?page_id=17"},"modified":"2026-03-31T14:37:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:37:50","slug":"project-watermark","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Watermark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<style>\n  .wp-block-post-featured-image { display: none; }\n  .entry-header { display: none; }\n  .wp-block-separator { display: none; }\n  .has-global-padding { padding-top: 0 !important; }\n  .wp-block-post-title { display: none; }\n  .wp-block-site-title { display: none; }\n  .wp-block-site-tagline { display: none; }\nbody, .wp-site-blocks { background: linear-gradient(180deg, #f0f4f8 0%, #e8eef5 100%) !important; min-height: 100vh; }\n<\/style>\n<div style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, sans-serif; color: #1a1a1a; max-width: 900px; margin: 0 auto; padding: 40px 20px 0 20px;\">\n\n  <!-- HERO -->\n  <div style=\"text-align: center; padding: 60px 0 40px;\">\n    <h1 style=\"font-size: 48px; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: -1px; margin-bottom: 16px;\">Project Watermark<\/h1>\n    <p style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #555; font-style: italic;\">Enhancing trust and authenticity in a digital era.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- INTRO -->\n  <p style=\"font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.8; color: #333; margin-bottom: 16px;\">The <strong>Watermark<\/strong> project addresses the growing problem of deepfakes and other forms of synthetic visual media by proposing an active, prevention-oriented solution through the development of a secure, encryption-protected, and robust image watermarking system. Instead of attempting to detect manipulations after dissemination, the project focuses on embedding imperceptible watermarks directly into images at the time of creation or publication. These watermarks serve to verify image authenticity and establish ownership, while preserving visual quality and remaining resilient to common, non-malicious image transformations.<\/p>\n\n  <p style=\"font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.8; color: #333; margin-bottom: 40px;\">The research and development activities were structured around three major tasks. The first task focuses on the integration of message encryption mechanisms into robust watermarking algorithms, aiming to combine asymmetric cryptography, error-correcting codes, and selective image region modification. The second task is dedicated to the development of a novel encryption-protected watermarking algorithm based on machine learning and computer vision techniques, particularly through the embedding and detection of watermarks in the latent space of images using Latent Diffusion Models. The third task culminates in the development of a web-based prototype platform offering image protection services for registered entities, based on token-derived watermarks, as well as public verification services to assess image authenticity and provenance.<\/p>\n\n  <!-- VIDEO -->\n  <div style=\"margin: 0 auto 24px;\">\n    <video controls style=\"width: 100%; border-radius: 12px; box-shadow: 0 4px 20px rgba(0,0,0,0.15);\" src=\"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WatermarkVideoPromocional-\u2010-Feito-com-o-Clipchamp.mp4\"><\/video>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- BOTAO -->\n  <div style=\"text-align: center; margin-bottom: 80px;\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/watermark.di.ubi.pt\/\" style=\"display: inline-block; background: #1a1a1a; color: white; padding: 14px 28px; border-radius: 8px; text-decoration: none; font-size: 15px; font-weight: 600;\">Image Watermarking Platform \u2192<\/a>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- DIVIDER -->\n  <hr style=\"border: none; border-top: 1px solid #dce8f5; margin-bottom: 60px;\">\n\n  <!-- RESULTS -->\n  <div id=\"results\" style=\"margin-bottom: 60px;\">\n    <h2 style=\"font-size: 32px; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 8px;\">Project Major Results<\/h2>\n    <p style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #888; margin-bottom: 32px;\">The major result of the project is a platform for image authenticity certification and verification, powered by a computer vision model that embeds and extracts watermarks from images.<\/p>\n\n    <div style=\"display: flex; gap: 20px; flex-wrap: wrap;\">\n\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/Francisco-Guillen\/image-watermarking-vit\" style=\"flex: 1; min-width: 260px; border: 1px solid #e5e5e5; border-radius: 10px; padding: 24px; background: #fafafa; text-decoration: none; color: inherit; display: block;\">\n        <p style=\"font-size: 12px; color: #888; margin-bottom: 8px;\">Computer Vision Model<\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size: 18px; font-weight: 600; color: #1a1a8c; margin-bottom: 12px;\">Image Watermarking Model<\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #555; line-height: 1.6;\">A computer vision model to embed user tokens into images, resilient to common image manipulations. Combines insights from multiple research directions.<\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a8c; margin-top: 16px;\">View on GitHub \u2192<\/p>\n      <\/a>\n\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/watermark.di.ubi.pt\/\" style=\"flex: 1; min-width: 260px; border: 1px solid #e5e5e5; border-radius: 10px; padding: 24px; background: #fafafa; text-decoration: none; color: inherit; display: block;\">\n        <p style=\"font-size: 12px; color: #888; margin-bottom: 8px;\">Authentication Framework<\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size: 18px; font-weight: 600; color: #1a1a8c; margin-bottom: 12px;\">Image Authenticity Framework<\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #555; line-height: 1.6;\">A framework for image authenticity certification and verification, linking each processed image to a certified entity with resilience to malicious attacks.<\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a8c; margin-top: 16px;\">Visit Platform \u2192<\/p>\n      <\/a>\n\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- DIVIDER -->\n  <hr style=\"border: none; border-top: 1px solid #dce8f5; margin-bottom: 60px;\">\n\n  <!-- PUBLICATIONS -->\n  <div id=\"publications\" style=\"margin-bottom: 60px;\">\n    <h2 style=\"font-size: 32px; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 8px;\">Publications<\/h2>\n    <p style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #888; margin-bottom: 32px;\">Scientific publications produced within the project.<\/p>\n\n    <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 16px;\">\n\n      <div style=\"border: 1px solid #e5e5e5; border-radius: 10px; padding: 24px; background: #fafafa;\">\n        <p style=\"font-size: 12px; color: #888; margin-bottom: 8px;\">\ud83d\udcc4 Conference \u00b7 2026<\/p>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/openaccess.thecvf.com\/content\/WACV2026\/html\/Paulo_StreetView-Waste_A_Multi-Task_Dataset_for_Urban_Waste_Management_WACV_2026_paper.html\" style=\"font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; color: #1a1a8c; text-decoration: none;\">StreetView-Waste: A Multi-Task Dataset for Urban Waste Management<\/a>\n        <p style=\"margin-top: 8px; font-size: 14px; color: #555;\">Paulo, D. J., Martins, J., Proen\u00e7a, H., &#038; Neves, J. C.<\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #888;\">WACV, pp. 3015\u20133025.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n      <div style=\"border: 1px solid #e5e5e5; border-radius: 10px; padding: 24px; background: #fafafa;\">\n        <p style=\"font-size: 12px; color: #888; margin-bottom: 8px;\">\ud83d\udcc4 Conference \u00b7 2025<\/p>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/IJCB65343.2025.11410949\" style=\"font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; color: #1a1a8c; text-decoration: none;\">Bias Analysis for Synthetic Face Detection: A Case Study of the Impact of Facial Attributes<\/a>\n        <p style=\"margin-top: 8px; font-size: 14px; color: #555;\">Lamsaf, A., Cascone, L., Proen\u00e7a, H., &#038; Neves, J.<\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #888;\">IJCB, Osaka, Japan, pp. 1\u201310.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n      <div style=\"border: 1px solid #e5e5e5; border-radius: 10px; padding: 24px; background: #fafafa;\">\n        <p style=\"font-size: 12px; color: #888; margin-bottom: 8px;\">\ud83d\udcc4 Journal \u00b7 2025<\/p>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/OJCS.2025.3622532\" style=\"font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; color: #1a1a8c; text-decoration: none;\">Classification of Anomalies in Microservices Using an XGBoost-Based Approach With Data Balancing and Hyperparameter Tuning<\/a>\n        <p style=\"margin-top: 8px; font-size: 14px; color: #555;\">Barata, L. M., Lopes, E., In\u00e1cio, P. R. M., &#038; Freire, M. M.<\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #888;\">IEEE Open Journal of the Computer Society, vol. 6, pp. 1673\u20131685.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n      <div style=\"border: 1px solid #e5e5e5; border-radius: 10px; padding: 24px; background: #fafafa;\">\n        <p style=\"font-size: 12px; color: #888; margin-bottom: 8px;\">\ud83d\udcc4 Conference \u00b7 2025<\/p>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/IJCB65343.2025.11410746\" style=\"font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; color: #1a1a8c; text-decoration: none;\">ASDnB: Merging Face with Body Cues for Robust Active Speaker Detection<\/a>\n        <p style=\"margin-top: 8px; font-size: 14px; color: #555;\">Roxo, T., Costa, J. C., In\u00e1cio, P. R. M., &#038; Proen\u00e7a, H.<\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #888;\">IJCB, Osaka, Japan, pp. 1\u201310.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- DIVIDER -->\n  <hr style=\"border: none; border-top: 1px solid #dce8f5; margin-bottom: 60px;\">\n\n  <!-- MEDIA -->\n  <div id=\"media\" style=\"margin-bottom: 60px;\">\n    <h2 style=\"font-size: 32px; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 8px;\">Media<\/h2>\n    <p style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #888; margin-bottom: 32px;\">Science dissemination activities and outreach.<\/p>\n\n    <div style=\"border-left: 3px solid #1a1a1a; padding-left: 20px; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n      <p style=\"font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.8; color: #333;\">Jo\u00e3o Neves took part in a science dissemination activity in a national radio station, in the <strong>Antena 2 Ci\u00eancia<\/strong> radio program. During this intervention, the WATERMARK project was presented, contributing to the dissemination of his work to a broad audience. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rtp.pt\/play\/p783\/e843536\/antena2-ciencia\" style=\"color: #1a1a8c;\">Listen here \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div style=\"border-left: 3px solid #1a1a1a; padding-left: 20px; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n      <p style=\"font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.8; color: #333;\">Sara In\u00e1cio contributed to the dissemination of the project by taking part in a Workshop at a Computer Vision conference (WACV) to announce the results to the computer vision community.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div style=\"border-left: 3px solid #1a1a1a; padding-left: 20px;\">\n      <p style=\"font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.8; color: #333;\">The team also attempted to disseminate results by directly contacting different media entities (e.g., <strong>Ag\u00eancia LUSA<\/strong>) and professional photographers. These efforts did not produce results during the duration of the project, but the team is maintaining conversations with these partners to encourage them to test the platform developed.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- DIVIDER -->\n  <hr style=\"border: none; border-top: 1px solid #dce8f5; margin-bottom: 60px;\">\n\n  <!-- PARTNERS & FUNDING -->\n  <div style=\"margin: 0 -20px -40px -20px; padding: 40px; background: transparent; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; align-items: center; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 40px; margin-bottom: 0;\">\n    <div>\n      <p style=\"font-size: 12px; color: #888; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; margin-bottom: 16px;\">Partners<\/p>\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/sins-lab.png\" alt=\"SINS Lab\" style=\"height: 70px; margin-right: 20px;\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ubi.png\" alt=\"UBI\" style=\"height: 70px;\">\n    <\/div>\n    <div>\n      <p style=\"font-size: 12px; color: #888; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; margin-bottom: 16px;\">Funding<\/p>\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/fct.png\" alt=\"FCT\" style=\"height: 70px;\">\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Project Watermark Enhancing trust and authenticity in a digital era. The Watermark project addresses the growing problem of deepfakes and other forms of synthetic visual media by proposing an active, prevention-oriented solution through the development of a secure, encryption-protected, and robust image watermarking system. Instead of attempting to detect manipulations after dissemination, the project focuses [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":70,"href":"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141,"href":"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17\/revisions\/141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/watermark.ubi.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}