Canon Touch-Screen DSLR coming?

The image actually appears in US Patent Application No. 12/422,695, which was originally filed by Canon on April 13, 2009 and published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on October 22, 2009.

So, what can we learn from the patent?

Well, the patent is only 13 pages long (that’s a bit short for most of Canon’s patents that I’ve read) and does not cover claims that are specific to the overall touchscreen interface.  Instead, the patent primarily covers claims relating to accidentally touching parts of the touchscreen when bringing the camera to your eye in order to look through the viewfinder.
Specifically, the camera is supposed to allow users to register their dominant eye.  The photographer will input whether it is the left or right eye. Then the camera will detect the registered eye when it is brought to the viewfinder.  At that point, the camera will disable a portion of the touchscreen that would likely be touched by your face and, therefore, prevent any setting changes.  Also, note that the patent covers the possibility that the camera may automatically detect which eye is brought to the viewfinder and disable the appropriate portion of the LCD.
The diagonal hatching lines in the above image show the portion of the screen that is disabled, depending on which eye is registered with the camera.

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