Not new, physical modelling of a musical instrument (materials, shape, acoustics, etc.) and emulating it in an electronic environment has been done before. These guys claim to have improved upon it. There are other ways of doing it, some involve sampling of real instruments, others use a hybridised approach, combining sample with model.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx8UjlaWbaU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fiUOKdE500
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx8UjlaWbaU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fiUOKdE500
