I use a modified version of this paradigm for personal desktop apps that I write for myself to use. In these apps, all the screen elements initially fit within a 1920x1080 area, which is the minimum resolution among all my monitors. To achieve the infinite canvas effect, there could be icons near one or more of the edges. When clicked on, the icon opens a panel in the direction of the nearest edge and the canvas auto-scrolls to it. The panel could, itself, be a canvas, allowing for recursion.

Here is a screenshot of one of such app that I'm currently working on:

http://shadowcatcher.mindcast.com/imgShow.php?clip=way757yrh...