Facebook's acquisition will enhance its Snapchat-like filters

Facebook has snapped up a facial recognition startup to help it win the war it waged against Snapchat. The social network has acquired FacioMetrics, a Carnegie Mellon University spinoff that developed a few face detection apps, including one that can recognize seven different emotions in human faces. Those applications are no longer available in any app store. A Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company plans to use the startup's technology to enhance its Snapchat-like AR filters for Facebook videos and Live broadcasts. It could lead to new AR masks, new special effects and even new ways to trigger their animations.