Abstract: A user input device includes a sensor capable of sensing surface relief of human skin, a movement detector responsive to variation of the output of the sensor for detecting movement of skin across the sensor, and a user interface apparatus responsive to the movement detector to alert its state in correspondence to the detected movement.

Abstract: A method to authorize or authenticate a user of a wireless telecommunication system (32), and includes steps of (a) selecting a word at random from a set of reference words, or synthesizing a reference word; (b) prompting the user to speak the reference word; and (c) authenticating the user to operate in, or through, or with a resource reachable through the wireless telecommunication system, only if the user's speech characteristics match pre-stored characteristics associated with the reference word. In one embodiment the steps of selecting or synthesizing, prompting, and authenticating are performed in a mobile station (10) having a speech transducer (19) for inputting the user's speech, while in another embodiment at least one of the steps of selecting or synthesizing, prompting, and authenticating are performed in a wireless telecommunications network (32) that is coupled between the mobile station and a telephone network (35).

Abstract: A user input device comprising: a sensor capable of sensing surface relief of human skin; a movement detector responsive to variation of the output of the sensor for detecting movement of skin across the sensor; and user interface apparatus responsive to the movement detector to alter its state in correspondence to the detected movement.