Taking Matter(s) into your own hands

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Interoperability inevitably translates to security risks, and security has to be built into the fabric of a smart home ecosystem. After all, surveys have shown that consumer anxieties revolve around yielding autonomy to technologies, let alone taking into consideration the security risks. The wisdom of the CSA and its members has been to create an open-source structure in which those working on Matter have been able to provide their feedback and experiences. It was these experiences I relied heavily on in writing this technical article.

Historically, the definition of the smart home was arguably not clearly defined, and it was posited as a home capable of utilising ‘smart’ technologies like sensors and cameras – but with the absence of a unifying standard that enabled communication between these technologies, development was limited. At the risk of basing the definition solely on Matter and the value it brings, its value in connecting smart home devices which previously would not have communicated is significant. One major takeaway I had from writing this article was appreciating the comprehensive time and the efforts that go into establishing interoperable technologies and making wireless standards work; it can’t be achieved overnight. In my conversation with Hanna from Infineon, I was struck when he compared working on Matter to developing the Internet which provided interoperability, back in the nineties – a fact which is probably hard to reconcile now, when Internet access is so widespread and a key part of our lives. Matter, when it was introduced in 2021, was seeking to make smart home devices interoperable (which is no easy task), and as far as standards are concerned, it is relatively new – Zigbee, for instance, celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024.

Before beginning this article, I hoped to address the question:

" IS THE SMART HOME H ERE?" I’d like to conclude that the smart home has not yet been fully realised, but we’re not far away. If the dedication and belief of the experts working on the standard is any indication, complete interoperability between smart home devices will happen in the near future.