Abstract: A method and an apparatus are disclosed for identifying an individual through a combination of both speech and face recognition. The voice signature of an interrogated person uttering a key word into a microphone is compared in a pattern matcher with the previously stored voice signature of a known person uttering the same key word to obtain a first similarity score. At the same time, when a key event in the utterance of the key word by the interrogated person occurs, a momentary image of that person's mouth region onto which a grid pattern has been projected is optically recorded and compared with the previously stored corresponding momentary image of the same known person to obtain a second similarity score. The two similarity scores are analyzed to verify that the identity of the interrogated person is that of the known person.