Facebook is making use of MSQRD, the company it acquired in March, to give users the option to add Snapchat-esque filters to photos within the main app.
Earlier this year, Facebook acquired Masquerade Technologies, creator of the popular face-swapping app MSQRD, for an undisclosed amount, as part of its efforts to build its video services.
The new feature was first available this weekend for users to apply limited-edition Halloween-themed 'masks' to their faces in live-video broadcasts.
The company said in a blog post that a selection of masks will continue to be available after Halloween, 31 October.
Masks will roll out over the next few days for people using Facebook Live on iOS in the US, UK and New Zealand.
In the coming months, the feature will be available to people using Android devices, and in more countries.
To access the feature, users need to tap the live video icon, then select the masks icon, and scroll through the masks. The main difference between a Facebook and Snapchat mask is that Snapchat requires users to pre-select the filter they would like to use and Facebook allows users to change in real-time.
Copy cat
In August, Facebook-owned picture-sharing network Instagram introduced a new feature, called Instagram Stories, which allows users to post pictures and videos that disappear after 24 hours, directly copying a feature on Snapchat, also called Stories.
Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom admitted to a room of journalists when the product was launched that Snapchat deserves all the credit. He said sometimes tech companies are innovators and sometimes firms adopt others' formats and put their own spin on it.
In 2013, Snapchat turned down a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook, and has since drastically increased in value, estimated at around $20 billion in May.
Picture this
It seems the social network wants to capitalise on the recent trend of transforming digital photos using intelligent overlays.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a video of his dog, Beast, around the time of the launch of masks, which makes use of a new artificially intelligent technique called "style transfer" that makes videos look like an impressionist art work.
"The idea is you show the artificial intelligence a painting and then it draws your photos or videos in that style in real-time," says Zuckerberg, noting the feature will be available to the public soon.
This is similar to an app called Prisma, which recently hit one million users. Prisma transforms smartphone photos into artworks using a combination of neural networks and artificial intelligence.
Users choose from over 30 filters that each represent a style of a famous artist, like Vincent Van Gogh, Roy Lichtenstein and Pablo Picasso, or well-known paintings, like The Scream.
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