Facebook buys another facial recognition company to help it compete with Snapchat

Facebook has scooped up another facial recognition startup to help bolster its photo and video ambitions. The company, called FacioMetrics, was started by Carnegie Mellon students last year and it specialized in using machine learning algorithms to let smartphones analyze faces in real time through the frame of a camera. In a statement obtained by VentureBeat, Facebook says the company “will help bring more fun effects to photos and videos,” which includes the real-time filters, effects, and face-swapping tools now commonplace in social apps, namely Snapchat.