Facebook acquires FacioMetrics to add special effects to photos and videos

Filter apps that allow users to add masks and other special effects to their images and videos have grown in popularity. With the addition of FacioMetrics, Facebook can begin to offer similar services.

“We’re excited to welcome the FacioMetrics team, who will help bring more fun effects to photos and videos, and build even more engaging sharing experiences on Facebook,” a spokesperson for Facebook said in an email.

The financial details of the deal were not publicly released, but Facebook has already discontinued FacioMetrics’ products and removed them from the App Store. For now, the FacioMetrics website bears only a message about acquisition.

FacioMetrics founder and CEO Fernando De la Torre said, “We’re taking a big step forward by joining the team at Facebook, where we’ll be able to advance our work at an incredible scale, reaching people from across the globe.” FacioMetrics was created to meet the demand for various facial image applications, including virtual and augmented reality, animation, and audience reaction measurement. FacioMetrics was born after De la Torre joined the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, where he used IntraFace software released by CMU’s Human Sensing Lab, in 2003.

FacioMetrics isn’t the first company that Facebook has bought in an attempt to compete with services like Snapchat that allow users to enhance photos and videos. Facebook acquired Masquerade Technologies, another company that adds special effects to users’ images, in March,.