Instagram Has a New Tattoo Filter, and It's Pretty Wild How Realistic It Looks

The latest addition to Instagram's catalog of impressive camera filters comes in the form of a new tattoo filter. Although this concept has existed in the past, the developers of other filters have never really been able to make the tattoos augmented onto a person's face look realistic. Well, famous filter creator Jeferson Araujo has managed to solve that problem with his newest feature, and countless fans worldwide are already enjoying the hyper-realism of his work.

With that being said, how do you use the new Instagram filter, and what do we know about its creator and his other work? Keep reading to find out!

Jeferson is well-known across multiple social media platforms for his work with face filters and has amassed a following of more than 1 million people on Instagram alone. To access his filters, simply visit his Instagram page, where he saves all of his accessible filters for open use in his Highlights.

Select the "Tattoo" highlight, then hit "Try Rampage" (the name of the filter) at the bottom of the screen. This will open up the in-app camera, allowing the user to take either a photo or video with the digital tattoos superimposed onto their skin.

The filter has garnered international attention since its release, and there have been some divisive opinions regarding it and the technology used to create it as well. Some are troubled by the sheer realism of it all and afraid of how the technology could be used in negative ways, while others are embracing the phenomenon and encouraging further development of facial augmentation software.

According to an official press release, Jeferson's latest party trick "uses a new technology developed by Facebook Reality Labs, called Skin Segmentation, which makes it possible to separate skin, clothes, and hair, and thus develop filters that are more and more realistic and that blend in with reality. The result sometimes ends up being shocking to the eyes, which at first glance doesn't even seem to be a filter."

The designs were created by renowned artist Lloyd Stratton, who reacted happily to the news that his work was being used in such a technologically advanced application. "Finally we made it," he said. Clearly that's true, considering the filter has been used nearly 100 million times since it was initially released to the public.

This isn't Jeferson's first foray into viral filters, either. Per that same press release, "His 'Angel' filter alone reached 9.1 billion impressions (views), with 672.4 million openings (the person tries but doesn't share), 243.7 million captures, with 23.6 million shares."

In terms of celebrity appeal, the creator has seen his work be used by the likes of Madonna, Stella McCartney, and various other big names over the years.

So what do you think? Will you try out the new Instagram tattoo filter? Or is its realism too spooky for you?