{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T16:06:48Z","timestamp":1783008408375,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,24]],"date-time":"2025-01-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1737676800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100018694","name":"Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie Innovative Training Network Fellowship of the European Commission\u2019s Horizon 2020 Programme","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["955901"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["955901"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100018694","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100018694","name":"Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie Innovative Training Network Fellowship of the European Commission\u2019s Horizon 2020 Programme","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["892418"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["892418"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100018694","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"FFG COMET Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies Programme","award":["955901"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["955901"]}]},{"name":"FFG COMET Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies Programme","award":["892418"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["892418"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Imaging"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Defect detection methods have greatly assisted human operators in various fields, from textiles to surfaces and mechanical components, by facilitating decision-making processes and reducing visual fatigue. This area of research is widely recognized as a cross-industry concern, particularly in the manufacturing sector. Nevertheless, each specific application brings unique challenges that require tailored solutions. This paper presents a novel framework for leveraging latent space representations in defect detection tasks, focusing on improving explainability while maintaining accuracy. This work delves into how latent spaces can be utilized by integrating unsupervised and supervised analyses. We propose a hybrid methodology that not only identifies known defects but also provides a mechanism for detecting anomalies and dynamically adapting to new defect types. This dual approach supports human operators, reducing manual workload and enhancing interpretability.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jimaging11020033","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,24]],"date-time":"2025-01-24T05:24:31Z","timestamp":1737696271000},"page":"33","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Investigating the Potential of Latent Space for the Classification of Paint Defects"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3692-4793","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Doaa","family":"Almhaithawi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Control and Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-4021-0067","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandro","family":"Bellini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Prime Lab, Mathema s.r.l., 50142 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3059-3575","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Georgios C.","family":"Chasparis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Data Science, Software Competence Center Hagenberg GmbH, Softwarepark 32a, 4232 Hagenberg, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9039-6226","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tania","family":"Cerquitelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Control and Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"171","DOI":"10.25046\/aj040323","article-title":"An efficient automotive paint defect detection system","volume":"4","author":"Akhtar","year":"2019","journal-title":"Adv. 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