Activity-oriented computing promotes the use of models of user activities by software systems. In this talk I will introduce this topic and explore some of its applications such as:

• Self-configuration and dynamic adaptation. For this application, activity models capture the needs and preferences of users for each activity; for instance, using domain ontology to capture needs and utility-theoretic frameworks to capture preferences. By interpreting such models at run time, software systems can automatically choose which features to activate, how to configure those features, choose among alternative computation strategies depending on the available resources, etc.
• User mobility in ubiquitous computing. A special case of self-configuration and adaptation, where users move to different locations and want to access their activities with whatever computing capabilities are embedded in the environment (walls, tables, etc.) Challenges include dealing with heterogeneity of devices and software, scoping service discovery, providing a security and privacy framework, and designing interfaces for users to manage their activities.