IIRC, Matt takes his glove off to run his fingers over the maps in the warehouse in episode 9, which suggests that he can read at least some printed text by touch. But that probably takes a lot of concentration and obviously it's not something he can do in public, so I assume mostly he doesn't bother and there hasn't yet been any reason for him to demonstrate or explain the trick to any of the other characters.

I agree that the "world on fire" thing is just Matt trying (badly and awkwardly) to be poetic about the synthesis of his other senses that he uses to get a picture of the world around him. I figure he probably uses a mix of echolocation, radiating body heat, disrupted air currents, and subtle vibrations from people's weight shifting on floors or the ground. YMMV, obviously!