This research project explores the relationship between poetic design and emotional affect. In it I document the creation of four prototypes that each illustrate a different way of physical- ly animating an object with the presence of a remote person. In my reflection on these designs I discuss the concepts that informed their creation, including Ambient Media Displays, Tangible User Interfaces, and Poetic Design. I also reflect on user tests conducted to discern the potential for each design
to be emotionally affective, and the qualities of the design that facilitate this. I conclude that experiencing a small fragment of a person’s presence through the behavior of an object has sig- nificant potential to be emotionally affective. I assert that the poetic significance of fragments is one of the conceptual mech- anisms responsible for this affect.