Yo-Yo Machines are playful communicators you can easily build yourself to keep in touch with friends and family.
From the website
Made by a team of designers and technologists at Goldsmiths, University of London, the concept of having connected devices that can connect people on a distance can easily been seen as a IoT-archetype. There are well-known design cases too, like the Good Night Lamp. This Yo-Yo Machines are nicely designed with the fun of making as part of the process and will be able to create some bespoke connect-from-distance machines that will fit the remote working very well!
The website shows 4 basic interaction concepts: Light Touch, Flutter By, Knock Knock, and Speed Dail. It comes with the instructions and software for Arduinos.