The future of smart homes with Matter interoperability and AI could overcome the adoption hurdles of cost, complexity, and security.
Since the first smart gadgets started to surface a few years ago, the fabled smart home of the future has been edging closer to being a realistic, everyday reality.
The hardware, the software, and the use cases are all present and correct. Although issues such as compatibility, cost, and security persist, Matter, the new interoperability standard from the Connected Standards Alliance (CSA), promises to resolve many of these as it rolls out.
But let’s face it; there is still a significant problem. Right now, smart homes just aren’t very smart. Even with significant advancements in communication between smart home gadgets, setting up and maintaining a smart home still requires too much manual effort.
This point is especially true for homeowners who desire more sophisticated usage model capabilities, such as creating scenes with various smart home devices that perform multiple tasks simultaneously, such as opening the garage, turning on the lights and music, and disarming a home security system. Few consumers take advantage of these advanced “smart home 2.0” usage models because of the complexity involved.
There is potential for much more, even if most entry-level smart home users are thrilled with simply turning on the lights when using a smart voice assistant like Alexa.Time To Market Not Matter’s Trademark, So Far
Maybe it won’t be the case forever. Many smart home enthusiasts have started building smart homes by purchasing smart speakers or smart TVs. Some have taken things further by purchasing smart lights, robotic vacuums, or outside security cameras.
The number of smart house advocates who have invested time and thought into designing and running a complex multi-device smart home setup is far lower. Again, few customers have advanced to this level.
Voice assistants have typically been used in homes to obtain information such as the most recent weather or turn lights on and off. By learning how we behave in our homes and feeding that information back into smart home management systems, generative AI can transform that connection from transactional to collaborative engagements.
Technically speaking, this is nothing new. For instance, Alexa creates “guesses” about new automation sequences and efficiencies depending on your activities around the house. Customer evaluations indicate that hunches may be disruptive and don’t seem effective in personalizing dwellings with more than one occupant. Thus, these only go so far in reality.
