This thesis examines the role connected devices in the home could play for maintaining and taking care of close relationships of people living apart. Communication tools nowadays offer many different ways of communicating and they are mostly focused on mobile devices. Social presence describes the feeling that humans have when communicating with each other and can be mediated through communication tools in different strengths. The Internet of Things is one rapidly developing branch of contemporary technology and estimates say by 2020 about 200 billion devices will be connected. This research focuses on the possibilities the Internet of Things offers to the notion of social presence in the domestic setting by exploring how we feel interrupted by current devices: Through a Research through Design approach, alternative concepts will be developed to materialize the feeling of social presence.