Research on digital protection of ethnic culture in Tibetan areas in Yunnan Province based on GIS

The Tibetan culture is one of the most unique religious in the world, and it has deeply influenced the Chinese culture in many ways. What´s more, the Tibetan area in Yunnan Province is important for the world, not only in the nomadic culture, but also in religious culture and Chinese history. With the aid of the current advanced technology, especially the Geographic Information System (GIS) and Virtual Reality (VR) Technology, it is much easier for protecting the Tibetan ethnic culture in a digital way. In this paper, integrated use of 3DS MAX, Sketchup, and Skyline TerraBuilder makes a 3D model library. Combining ArcGIS map analysis function makes space databases and attribute databases. At last, using TerraExplorer Pro digitizes the Tibetan culture. This research provides the convenience to protect the Tibetan culture in Yunnan Province, and it also provides a new idea and method to solve problems of the safety in Tibetan culture.