I don't so much "see" specific people unless there is something in particular about their life physically that is important, along the lines of a physical characateristic which I am intended to use as an identifier or clue...(earlier in this life I was to interact with petite, short dark/red-haired women and hilarity often ensued when they were not the party to be identified!). Instead I get a very clear "sense" of them which is a dead certain identifier. My "dreams" or views into other times illustrate interaction with another being I recognize from the "feeling" their presence brings. Surprisingly or not, the comments they make or the actions and reactions they have during these pl views are also remarkably characteristic of them currently.
On a slightly different topic, you asked if it is possible to recognize a soul mate. It is my understanding that the term "soul mate" is less a singular and only soul with whom one interacts, than a soul with whom you have incarnated over several or many incarnations. I have many soul mates and we play various roles for each other over the course of lives. As if in planning this next life I put a call out to general casting and naturally those you know will get the nod first. I can't see a soul mate as a specific and exclusive love interest from life to life, although they can play that role on occasion...there are simply too many varied options out there. In my current situation I was engaged to one soul mate and married another...others have been great friends or former romantic partners, while others are scheduled to show up in future scenes of my life play. In the navy, we called those voyaging on our ship "ship mates" and that seems to be accurate to me...the souls I am voyaging with for this lifetime are my soul mates...and like the crew of the ship, some are closer to me than others.