How do you experience an interactive system without… interaction?

Imagine you go to a foreign country. You want to buy a train ticket. You walk to the station and go to the ticket machine. You see a dizzying array of levers, buttons, sliders, and dials. Each labelled with diagrams which don't make sense to you.

You back away slowly from the machine and try to find a human ticket seller.

Have you experienced the machine?

How do you interface with an interactive system without interaction?