Patent ID: 7787666

Claim:
A user input device comprising: a sensor capable of sensing surface relief of human skin comprising: a plurality of sensing units arranged in a substantially planar array such that the sensor comprises a first sensing section comprising a linear array of sensing units extending in a first direction and a second sensing section comprising a linear array of sensing units extending in a second direction, wherein the sensing units are more closely spaced in the first direction than in the second direction; the user input device further comprising: a movement detector responsive to variation of the output of the sensor for detecting movement of skin over the sensor; and user interface apparatus responsive to the movement detector to alter its state in correspondence to the detected movement; wherein the movement detector is operable to compare successive outputs from the first sensing section to detect movement in the first direction and to compare successive outputs from the second sensing section to detect movement in the second direction; the movement detector being further operable to determine a composite direction of movement across the sensor from a combination of the detected movement in the first direction and the detected movement in the second direction.