Taking Matter(s) into your own hands

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What Matter set out to do in 2021, when the standard was first launched, was regarded as ambitious: create a unifying standard that would mean, regardless of the smart home device or manufacturer, they’d be able to communicate with each other in an ecosystem. The smart home is not a new concept, but definitions hinged on a home with smart devices, like locks or lightbulbs, that would operate independently, because manufacturers hadn’t designed their devices to be interoperable. The smart home was recognised early on for the advantages it would bring the end user: such as convenience, safety, and quality of life. Imagine, for example, an elderly person who lives on their own and has limited mobility. Using a smart home hub, they could switch on lights, adjust the temperature of their home, and lock their doors with the touch of a button. Where manual tasks might have proved difficult, Matter-enabled devices could overhaul them altogether. An emerging use case for a smart home is energy management, particularly pertinent as the cost of energy has skyrocketed in recent years. Upon talking to industry experts actively working on Matter, it became clear that the standard is unique for being a manufacturer- driven initiative where competing companies banded together in

recognition of the fact that making their devices interoperable was more important than their competition, to fully realise the smart home. This is not to suggest that the smart home has been fully realised. The problem Matter is looking to solve is not easy, for a number of reasons. Although each version of the standard – 1.4 being the most recent release – added new device types, not all ecosystems supported these features – as Finn Boetius from Nordic Semiconductor pointed out, ecosystems support window blinds but not the command to tilt these blinds back – an example of the complexity that exists. Certification also came up as an issue in the course of writing this article, as something manufacturers mentioned was a current hurdle for them to overcome, adding time and complexity. The most important element of the standard – collaboration among the manufacturers – is already happening, and the Matter-enabled devices already on the market have demonstrated that interoperability is no longer merely proof of concept, but here now.