We could live in a Matrix-like virtual world by 2045.

Pearson said advancements in nanotechnology will make it possible to plug our brains into computers and live in a simulated world.

"You can certainly make something a bit like the Matrix, if you wanted to," Pearson told Tech Insider. "Around 2045, 2050, you could link people's brains to the computers so much that they believe they’re living in a virtual world."

Pearson said the concept is a bit like what Tesla CEO Elon Musk outlined when he talked about neural lace at the Vox Media's Code Conference in Southern California.

Neural lace is a wireless brain-computer system that would add a digital layer of intelligence to our brain. It's a concept nanotechnologists have been working on.