Interactive Media is a new research field and a landmark in multimedia development.  The Era of Interactive Media  is an edited volume contributed from world experts working in academia, research institutions and industry.  The Era of Interactive Media focuses mainly on Interactive Media and its various applications.  This book also covers multimedia analysis and retrieval; multimedia security rights and management; multimedia compression and optimization; multimedia communication and networking; and multimedia systems and applications. The Era of Interactive Media  is designed for a professional audience composed of practitioners and researchers working in the field of multimedia.   Advanced-level students in computer science and electrical engineering will also find this book useful as a secondary text or reference.