Having multiple ink blots to improve entropy

[DonaldTsang]

Is it possible to split the hash into multiple parts and distribute it to different inkblots (possibly a 2x4 or 3x3 grid for 8 blots)?
Also is it possible to overlay one inkblot on top of another with different colored layers?

[DonaldTsang]

Other ways of improvements include having polygons like http://yuvadm.github.io/polyhash/ or colored checkered background like https://github.com/solosodium/colorful-hash ?

[stuartpb]

Funny you should mention that: I actually created hashsplat a couple months ago, which works exactly like you're describing - it takes the bits of a SHA256 sum (or any other 64-byte hash) and overlays them as three variable-color hashblots (the first 60 bytes defining the blot paths, then the remaining 4 defining the colors).

That page currently just shows what hashsplats would look like using random data, because I made it to test the overall aesthetic of the algorithm's output for 256-bit hashes in general - I know what I want the actual SHA2 UI to look like, I just haven't gotten around to throwing it in yet (I think I got sidetracked somewhere around the point where I was looking at what an appropriate factorization for an ES module in 2018 should be).

Once I hook up the demo plumbing on hashsplat.com, I've been planning on publishing a writeup about all this crypto-adjacent stuff I've been working on (Hashblot, Hashsplat, the Gross Simplification algorithm from surpass, NilPass, Alphabinary, and Mixalog, an idea I've yet to write about anywhere, even in barfspace) for a while, and I think what I really need to get that writeup out the door is a producer, if anybody might be interested in taking that on.

[DonaldTsang]

@stuartpb what about containing all 256/384/512 bits of SHA2/BLAKE(2)/SHA3 hashes? Or even 8~1024 bit hashes for Skein or KangarooTwelve or SHAKE or BLAKE(2)-XOF?
Perhaps the inkblots can have less overlaps and less entropy, such that even near-miss hashes can be spotted? And by compensation, have multiple separate inkblots with pixel backgrounds?

• SHA2 (hash) https://github.com/Caligatio/jsSHA and https://github.com/wlzla000/node-sha2
  • SHA-256
  • SHA-384
  • SHA-512
• BLAKE (hash) https://github.com/cryptocoinjs/blake-hash or https://github.com/michaelnisi/blake
  • BLAKE-256
  • BLAKE-384
  • BLAKE-512
• SHA3 (hash) https://github.com/emn178/js-sha3 and https://github.com/cryptocoinjs/keccak
  • SHA3-256
  • SHA3-384
  • SHA3-512
• BLAKE2 (hash) https://github.com/dcposch/blakejs
  • BLAKE2s (1~32bytes)
  • BLAKE2b (1~64bytes)
• BLAKE2x (XOF)
  • BLAKE2sx
  • BLAKE2bx
• SHAKE (XOF) https://github.com/Caligatio/jsSHA
  • SHAKE128
  • SHAKE256
• Skein (hash or XOF) https://github.com/coiscir/jsdigest
  • Skein-256 (1~32bytes or more)
  • Skein-512 (1~64bytes or more)
  • Skein-1024 (1~128bytes or more)
• KangarooTwelve (basically SHA3.2) (XOF)

[DonaldTsang]

• Alphabinary is bad because it did not do research on english alphabet distribution
• Surpass's widget has low entropy so not really
• Emoji-based systems are not font-agnostic and most look very similar
  • https://github.com/mcroydon/hashmoji
• Polygon-based system needs to prevent duplication
  • http://yuvadm.github.io/polyhash/

[DonaldTsang]

Also adding https://github.com/ea7ababe/identicon and https://github.com/dakridge/identicon to the mix would be a good idea for circular variations

[DonaldTsang]

@stuartpb I made a bigger list of hash-based imaging, if you can comment on each of them that would be great

• Color strip (SVG) https://github.com/bengl/node-hashcolors
• Color strip (ANSI) https://github.com/solosodium/colorful-hash
• Ink Blots https://github.com/stuartpb/hashblot (yours)
• Bubbles https://github.com/dakridge/identicon
• Circular https://github.com/ea7ababe/identicon
• Triangles https://github.com/Mailea/origamicons
• Polygons https://github.com/yuvadm/polyhash
• Ring based https://github.com/Zunawe/identicons
• Ring based https://github.com/splitbrain/php-ringicon
• Jagged https://github.com/danfinlay/jazzicon
• Tornado https://github.com/popodidi/idoticon
• hexagon https://github.com/naknomum/hexicon
• Tiles https://github.com/danslocombe/tiledenticon
• Heart https://github.com/Schlipak/IdentiHeart
• Sound: https://github.com/jasonbot/identijingle