That's not a "physical" version of game of life -- that's a digital version, like every version, but with bigger pixels.

Does make me wonder if it's possible to make a physical / analog / mechanical version of Game of Life.

fake edit: yes, kind of: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/forums/topic/164622-moc-mec...

I think "physical" refers to the fact that you initialize the state by pressing physical buttons. That's quite accurate.