Facebook on Wednesday said that it has bought facial recognition startup FacioMetrics, in move that could help the company improve services related to photos and video effects. "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," the company said.

Facebook did not disclose financial terms of the deal.

FacioMetrics was founded in 2015 and specializes in using artificial intelligence to give facial image analysis capabilities to applications that run on smartphones.

The technology has potential in a host of applications, including those focused on animation, measuring audience reactions, and virtual or augmented realities, FacioMetrics founder and chief executive 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," De la Torre said.

Using FacioMetrics to let users of Facebook, or Instagram, have fun with photos or video could be a counter-move to those kinds of features offered in "filters" at vanishing message service Snapchat.