I think this was addressed explicitly on TNG even! IIRC there was an episode where a kid has ptsd thinking he caused his ship to wreck. It comes out that while the ship was shaking he pressed his forearm up against the panel for balance. One of the enterprise crew tells him at the climax he couldn’t have messed anything up because he’s not crew or something
And the designers of LCARS informed the cast that any button they pressed was the correct button, because the system was smart enough to present a custom smart interface that was intuitive to the crew member using it. Presumably, it’s also smart enough to recognize Riker’s ass.
The idea that the computer can tell who is interacting with the panel, authenticate them, and distinguish a command from something set/leaning on it makes sense. Riker is trusting that system. They could have made a throwaway joke about Riker breaking a prototype replacement in testing when he leaned on it.
I think this was addressed explicitly on TNG even! IIRC there was an episode where a kid has ptsd thinking he caused his ship to wreck. It comes out that while the ship was shaking he pressed his forearm up against the panel for balance. One of the enterprise crew tells him at the climax he couldn’t have messed anything up because he’s not crew or something
And the designers of LCARS informed the cast that any button they pressed was the correct button, because the system was smart enough to present a custom smart interface that was intuitive to the crew member using it. Presumably, it’s also smart enough to recognize Riker’s ass.
Oh, it is very familiar with Riker’s ass.
Same.
Us and half the alpha quadrant
The idea that the computer can tell who is interacting with the panel, authenticate them, and distinguish a command from something set/leaning on it makes sense. Riker is trusting that system. They could have made a throwaway joke about Riker breaking a prototype replacement in testing when he leaned on it.