Have touch controls on black bars instead of on game view

I am wondering if it is possible to add touch controls on the black side bars as opposed to on top of the game view port?

I can think of a way to do it with a canvas but will require a rewrite for my "is in screen" events. Is there any. Easier way? Or will I have to rewrite the game?

What black panels?

I don't understand the question at all.

Yes. Use proper inner or outer scaling instead of letterbox scaling, and make your extended layout background black. Note that you don't have much control over the available size of the user device, so those black bars may or may not be there in all cases.