An Environmental Navigation Aid is provided, and can be a rechargeable, portable, handheld device that can convert environmental information, such as distance to a target object, into tactile values for presentation to a user's palm or fingers by way of a tactile feedback wheel. The nature of the target object composition can be factored into the behavior of the feedback wheel. The Environmental Navigation Aid can be paired with a wireless charging dock that can also serve as a homing beacon when the handheld device is pointed at the changing dock. Stand-alone homing beacons for additional orientation referencing tasks can be added to an Environmental Navigation Aid as a system. The Environmental Navigation Aid is designed to assist the blind in perception of the world around them.
