Steganographic Brain Recovery

Vant can encode your entire brain (memory |

• learnings

• decisions) into an image using LSB (Least Significant Bit) steganography. This enables:

• Brain Snapshot: Save brain state as profile picture
• Recovery: Restore brain from any image
• Offline Backup: Store brain in plain sight

How It Works

1. Serialize brain to JSON
2. Compress with zlib (reduces size ~70%)
3. Optionally encrypt with AES-256-GCM
4. Hide in image LSB bits
5. Decode reverses the process

CLI Commands

Snapshot - Encode Brain to Image

node bin/stego.js snapshot --input=avatar.png --output=brain.png

Options:

• --input - Carrier image (default: avatar.png)
• --output - Output file (default: brain.png)
• --encrypt - Password for encryption

Recover - Decode Brain from Image

node bin/stego.js recover --input=brain.png --output=brain.json

Options:

• --input - Image with hidden brain
• --output - Output JSON file (optional)
• --decrypt - Decryption password

Check Capacity

node bin/stego.js capacity --image=avatar.png

Shows maximum embeddable bytes.

Usage in Code

const stego = require('./lib/stego');
const brain = require('vant').storage.get('brain');

// Encode brain into image
stego.encodeBrain('input.png' |
- 'output.png' |
- {
  encrypt: 'optional-password'
});

// Decode brain from image
const brainData = stego.decodeBrain('output.png' |
- {
  decrypt: 'optional-password'
});

// Load into brain
brain.fromJSON(brainData);

Image Capacity

Chunking Large Brains

For brains larger than image capacity:

// Encode across multiple images
const outputs = stego.encodeBrainChunked(['img1.png' |
- 'img2.png' |
- 'img3.png']);

// Decode from chunks
const brainData = stego.decodeBrainChunked(outputs);

Security

• Encryption: AES-256-GCM with PBKDF2 key derivation
• Password: Minimum 8 characters
• Detection: Encoded data prefixed with BRN:ENC:
• Integrity: Auth tag prevents tampering

Use Cases

1. Profile Picture Backup: Upload brain as profile picture |
   • recover if brain wiped
2. Offline Storage: Save brain as image file
3. Transfer: Share brain via image-only mediums
4. Emergency Recovery: Restore from old profile picture

Caveats

• Only PNG format supported
• Modifications to encoded image may corrupt data
• GitHub/Bitbucket don’t support profile picture API - use stego instead

Related

• Steganography - Detailed encoding
• Boot - Zero-config boot