QA and BA Hub

Introduction

The matter is an interoperability standard whose primary purpose is to solve today’s problems like smart home headaches. The matter is familiar but has a primary specification which enables the devices to talk to each other. The matter is a Global open-source standard to facilitate the ecosystem of smart homes by allowing internet connection from different manufacturers to communicate securely.

Connectivity standard Alliance develops the matter, and many companies integrate it, like Apple, Amazon, and Google and some major manufacturers like Samsung and LG. Matter devices work for all of them using some of its extra features and due to having better automation. Its connectivity standard make communication easier for the devices, regardless of the product brand. It helps to remove silos and allows more than one smart home system to connect with another set of products (Tuohy, 2021).

Technical concepts

First Matter specification only supports smart home devices with small features like On and Off, Lock and unlock, brighten or dim and motion or no motion. But now white home appliances, Garage doors, gate control sensors, environment control sensors, CO detectors, energy management, ambient motion and other home security cameras are on its road map. 

The matter is entirely under the control of the local network, so devices can respond quickly and work if the network is down. Cloud connectivity can also be an option allowing out-of-home control and integration. There are some reasons to build technologies with the matter due to:

• It has low development costs, like it will be built once and then work for all matter identity system.
• It lowers the latency and has high reliability compared to cloud connections because the matter is based on IP-based connectivity protocols.
• It has consistent experience over all matter technology to enable devices.
• It has fast and accessible development. 
• Anyone with existing cloud-connected and local integration home devices can have a better experience with matter technology.

How it is a game changer

Matter Technology proved to be a game changer. What if devices talk to each other? It looks dreamy, but with matter technology, it could be possible. The evaluated standard improves security, interoperability and ease of use on smart home devices regardless of what underlying technology the device is using. Its primary role is to onboard devices to your home network, control devices, manage communication and automation and facilitate remote access. The matter controller needs a device always at home and powered and a Wi-Fi connection (2022).

Figure 1 (Liaison , 2022)

Matter makes it relatively easy for smart home devices to work with one another with minimum trouble. If anyone has matter-enabled smart home devices, then it is significantly easier for them to control them through Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa.

Customer benefits

The setup will be quick and simple when the devices become compatible. With all of its technical benefits matter technology helps the consumer a lot. When any consumer buys a matter technology standard device, even a coffee maker, it is preloaded with the required software and some credentials, which provide it with a unique identity and status. 

If any consumer wants to add a device at home, they have to scan the QR code on the phone and pair devices. The customer device verifies device credentials and sets them on the network. So customer’s coffee maker is now online and ready to go. 

Matter technology empowers the consumer to have unlimited control, maintenance and production access. With this speed of evolving technology, companies are also moving towards how to evolve quickly. Managing all devices from one place is an influential factor that helps you as a consumer benefit from technology. Matter technology gives flexibility to new devices and appliances. No matter what the state of art home appliances have, you can still use more impressive models of matter technology. Integrating surveillance features and security features in the network of smart home security can be increased. For example, home cameras, automated door locks, automation systems, motion detectors, and other security measure devices can be controlled from a single device or mobile phone in one place. There are many other benefits that a consumer can get like:

• Home function remote control
• Energy efficiency increased
• Flexibility in new or previous devices and appliances
• Home security increase
• Appliance functionality increase
• Home management from insight
• Management of all devices from one place

This sheer amount of consumer interest in matter technology means that it is the world’s most influential technology that entered a race to outdo one another (Tuohy, 2021). 

Manufacturer benefits

The matter is an open-source developmental approach which makes things easy to develop. To help the manufacturer, engineers and developers matter technology GitHub repository is available with source code, which helps matter, so there is no need to be a GitHub member. Matter technology also has a forum for this repository for manufacturers. 

To satisfy the manufacturing process demand, they need to update their process technologies. Communication among producers and consumers and material supply chain to develop products accepted and integrated into the community. The benefits of matter technology in manufacturing processes are:

• There is an increase in the plant’s overall efficiency and a decrease in material wastage
• It improves communication among the production and sales team and engineering teams
• In all phases of production quality of the product increase instead of only at the final stage

Matter technology helps refine manufacturing procedures and assists workflow by defining time and recourse-consuming phases. When quality and assurance are built, the product meets the specific qualification criteria of the consumer. Material wastage will be decreased when the procedures are streamlined in the production and owe accuracy in terms of dimensions and finishing. So the production goal will be better and have improved accuracy. Communication among the team members will be improved when a proper device like enterprise recourse planning helps cross-communication among the company’s different functions (Samarapungavan, 2021). 

Conclusion

From the above discussion, Matter technology is supposed to be a game changer to make life easier and more convenient. When we install a bunch of internet-connected devices that need to be fixed, there are many devices that will result in a complicated issue. This is where Matter technology helps. 

Reference

Tuohy, J.P. (2021) What matters about matter, the new smart home standard, The Verge. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/22832127/matter-smart-home-products-thread-wifi-explainer 

Matter: Making the smart home a more connected, comfortable, and helpful place. (2022) YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHsnjZPuqKM&t=1s 

Samarapungavan, A., Sapkota, B.K., Bryan, L.A., Staudt, C., Glidden, A., Broadhead, J., Pinto, H.E.W. and Hook, K., 2021. Developing kindergarten students’ conceptions of microscopic properties of matter through modeling-based technology-enriched instructions. In AERA Virtual Annual Meeting.

Liaison Partners (2022) Smart Home Network topology, Thread in Homes. Available at: https://www.threadgroup.org/BUILT-FOR-IOT/Smart-Home